Book Review #77: Audition

Title: Audition.
Author: Stasia Ward Kehoe.
Series: No.
Format: Hardback.
Pages: 458.
Source: Library.
Publisher: Viking Juvenile.
Published Date: October 13, 2011.
Summary:

"When high school junior Sara wins a coveted scholarship to study ballet, she must sacrifice everything for her new life as a professional dancer-in-training. Living in a strange city with a host family, she's deeply lonely-until she falls into the arms of Remington, a choreographer in his early twenties. At first, she loves being Rem's muse, but as she discovers a surprising passion for writing, she begins to question whether she's chosen the right path. Is Rem using her, or is it the other way around? And is dancing still her dream, or does she need something more? This debut novel in verse is as intense and romantic as it is eloquent."

Cover:

 This cover, is the whole entire story, within just this one picture. It has the younger girl, who wants to always improve herself as a ballerina, the older boy who wants to become a dance choreographer, and the interest they have in one another. If I had to design a cover for Audition, it would look exactly like this, I wouldn't change one thing about it.

Overall Thoughts:

When picking up Audition at my local library, I didn't know it was written in verse until I finally got home, and cracked it open. I haven't read too many books (actually just two, including this one), that were written in this style. I found it very interesting!

At the beginning of Audition, Sara has just received a scholarship to practice and study ballet, a dance school far from her home. To attend, she has to leave her mom and dad, and live with a family, until the school year is over. Of course she can visit her family on the weekends and holidays, she isn't forced to stay.

Arriving at the ballet school, she is put into a class with younger girls, but soon she starts moving up, and becoming part of plays. Sara doesn't really make any close friends, but she does start to spend a lot of time with a boy.

Hmmm, "boy" isn't exactly the right term I should use; while Sara is sixteen, Rem is in his early twenties (maybe twenty two?)

Even though I don't know much about dancing or ballet (simply because I have two left feet), I could easily keep up with the story line and content. However, Audition itself isn't really about dancing or ballet, it's more about being a teenage girl, being away from home, growing up, making mistakes and finally learning from them.