Review by Booklist Review
Michaela Mabinty DePrince, a professional ballerina who dances with the Boston Ballet, was born in Sierra Leone during a violent civil war that took the lives of her parents when she was three. While living at an orphanage, she became aware of ballet, which inspired her to dance, despite the lack of opportunities for Black dancers and despite vitiligo, a disorder that leaves lighter patches on the skin, making her self-conscious. An American couple adopted Michaela and raised her in the U.S. Although she encountered prejudice from both her peers and instructors within the world of traditional ballet, her adoptive parents' encouragement and her love of dance enabled her to achieve her goal. The narrative doesn't dwell on the child's early misfortunes. In the upbeat illustrations, even the children in the orphanage look quite happy. The challenges Michaela faced in the world of ballet are noted here, but so is the determination that carried the dancer through many successful performances. This picture book offers a tale of inspiration, perseverance, and triumph for a dedicated Black ballerina.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Ballet sustains in this lyrical homage emphasizing the early challenges that dancer Michaela Mabinty DePrince (1995--2024) overcame on her path to the professional stage. As an orphaned child in Sierra Leone, DePrince takes comfort in a magazine cover featuring a ballerina. When her American adoptive mother signs her up for classes, she persists in her passion, despite wondering whether others' view of her vitiligo, skin tone, and athletic build will keep her from becoming a ballerina--then "holds her head up and pirouettes into... a beloved princess." Duchess's carefully shaded digital renderings work in lockstep with the text, employing elegant curlicues to suggest movement. Using dance-filled language, Obuobi spotlights DePrince's persistence through recurring lines that describe the sentiments--"strength," "joy," and "faith"--provided by ballet, yielding a portrait that moves in more ways than one. An author's note concludes. Ages 4--8. (Jan.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A profile of the late Michaela Mabinty DePrince, who broke barriers as a dancer of color in the predominantly white world of ballet. Outside an orphanage in Sierra Leone, a ballet magazine floats on the wind and lands in a young girl's hands. Michaela's obsession with ballet and her determination to dance only grow after she is adopted and moves to the United States. With dark brown skin, dark curls, and vitiligo, Michaela faces judgment and rejection from the ballet community from the start, enduring discouraging criticism about her body type and skin color. Michaela's warm, loving white mother is a pillar of support, helping her dye her tights and paint her pointe shoes brown to match her skin tone and instilling confidence in her daughter, even when Michaela doubts herself. As she grows into a young woman, Michaela lands coveted roles such as the Sugar Plum Fairy inThe Nutcracker and Odette inSwan Lake, "twirling ribbons of hope around hearts" and serving as inspiration to other young brown girls. Swirling strokes of white evoke the dancers' movement throughout the story, wrapping around dynamic digital illustrations of Michaela as she matures. The ballerinas who surround Michaela in childhood present white, while the final spread shows her as an adult, trailed by young ballerinas with a wide range of skin tones, hairstyles, and body types. An author's note speaks to DePrince's recent death and the legacy she leaves behind. An uplifting reminder to jeté toward your dreams. (selected sources)(Picture-book biography. 4-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
