Sugar Plum Ballerinas

October 1, 2009
Gr 2-4-Nine-year-old Brenda Black is a budding ballet dancer and wannabe doctor. She eagerly reads anatomy textbooks, and her hero is Leonardo da Vinci. Though she and her mother have little money, they love each other and enjoy a strong bond. When Brenda's rich cousin comes to stay, she feels an urge to find something to hang over Tiffany's head (even though Tiffany seems to have everything a girl could want). Brenda and her friends hatch a plan to "borrow" their ballet teacher's prized ballet shoes, autographed by a famous prima ballerina, to show them off to Tiffany. The plan goes awry when Tiffany's pooch chews them to shreds, and the Sugar Plum Sisters must fix the unfixable. Fast paced and entertaining, with unique, multicultural characters and positive messages about friendship, honesty, materialism, and forgiveness, this book is sure to take center stage on young readers' lists."Amanda Moss Struckmeyer, Middleton Public Library, WI"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2010
This second Sugar Plum Ballerinas book has Brenda, the scientific one, in the lead role. Trouble begins when she tries to impress her wealthy cousin by "borrowing" the shoes of a famous ballerina from her dance teacher. Though the ending stretches credulity, reward and punishment are doled out in a satisfying way. Bubbly black-and-white drawings illustrate the story. Glos.

(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

September 29, 2008
Forget low expectations from celebrity authors—this series opener is warm, funny and tender. Alexandrea Petrakova Johnson's mother has been foisting her own ballet fantasies on her daughter ever since she was born, and now that the two of them have moved from Georgia to Harlem, Alexandrea has been enrolled in the Nutcracker School of Ballet (“When I was growing up, I dreamed of taking ballet ,” says Mama). A would-be costume designer, Mama gives her wild outfits names, like her Iceberg Suit (“white with shades of shimmery blue” with a triangular cap over each shoulder), and makes outrageous hats. Goldberg stops short of caricature, finding something believable to respect in Alexandrea's struggles in her dance class and in Mama's perseverance. She also gets friendships right, from the science-minded girl who, supposedly inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, speaks backward, to great comic effect; to a snobbish trio. Teachers behave reasonably, as does Alexandrea, and when she unsurprisingly finds success, it's credible and cause for readers' happiness, too. Ages 6–10.