The Queen Bee of Bridgeton

The Queen Bee of Bridgeton
by Leslie DuBois
Dancing Dream series, book one

When fifteen-year-old Sonya Garrison is accepted into the prestigious Bridgeton Academy, she soon discovers that rich girls are just as dangerous as the thugs in her home of Venton Heights. Maybe more so. After catching the eye of the star, white basketball player and unwittingly becoming the most popular girl in school, she earns the hatred of the three most ruthless and vindictive girls at Bridgeton. Can she defeat the reigning high school royalty? Or will they succeed in ruining her lifelong dream of becoming a world class dancer? (description taken from Amazon.com)

This was the story of a driven, passionate girl who hopes that her dancing can take her out of the ghetto. Sonya is a strong, compassionate, hopeful girl...and a great character to read about. Her motives are always clear and honorable, her passion for dancing is palpable, and her longing to be accepted and loved is heartbreaking.

Sonya begins to dance at age 8 and by the time she is 16, her dream is to attend a prestigious dance school in Rome to help her career as a professional ballerina. The dancing scenes were lovely, full of terminology, but never confusing, and solidly illustrating how devoted Sonya is to her dancing. Even when she begins dating a very intriguing boy, she never truly loses sight of her dancing dreams. Her passion even inspires those around her to become better people.

The juxtaposition of the Bridgeton Academy and Sonya and Sasha's roach-ridden apartment life in Venton Heights perfectly illustrates why both Sonya and Sasha have developed into the girls that they are, both driven to leave the ghetto behind, and why they will never truly be accepted at Bridgeton if anyone learns of where they live. It's sad to realize that race is still an issue and it's good that those feelings, of not being white enough, of not being black enough, are explored in books like this one. It really made me smile when Sonya realized that not everyone would judge her because of where she grew up...that she could be accepted for exactly who she was as a person. :)

I cannot wait to see what happens to Sonya next - where her dancing can truly take her!

Full disclosure: E-book provided by the author for review