Turning Point

Starred review from August 1, 2020

Gr 5 Up-Best friends Monique and Rasheeda spend the summer before ninth grade apart when Monique gets into a prestigious ballet training program and Rasheeda is left behind to help her aunt at their close-knit church. While Mo struggles to adjust to the microaggressions of an unfamiliar and primarily white environment, she ultimately gains confidence in her own dance abilities and begins to dream of a future at a dance high school. Sheeda, meanwhile, struggles between her obligations to her church and a slowly blossoming relationship with Mo's older brother Lennie, which comes close to something she isn't ready for. Though the two girls talk on the phone and text throughout the book, their journeys take place largely in alternating chapters. Readers will enjoy the contrasting narratives as well as the authentic dialogue. Mo and Sheeda's voices are very clear, and their conversations always feel natural and engaging. Fans of Chase's other middle grade books So Done and Dough Boys, or Jason Reynolds's "Track" series are sure to enjoy this down-to-earth summer read. VERDICT Chase writes the diverging, formative experiences of young Black girls beautifully. A necessary purchase for all collections.-Kelsey Socha, Springfield City Lib., MA

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2020
Two 13-year-old girls figure out what's really important to them during a transitional summer. Best friends Monique Jenkins and Rasheeda Tate are facing unfamiliar situations without each other to lean on over the last summer before freshman year. Monique is attending a competitive three-week summer intensive at Ballet America--where she hopes to land a full-year scholarship. Upon arrival, she's quickly faced with her differences: She and her friend from home, Mila, are the only Black people there. Unlike Mila and the White girls, Monique isn't tall and thin, and she doesn't know the nuances of ballet culture. Monique navigates microaggressions as she tries to fit in, with hopes of her talent's being recognized. Meanwhile, Rasheeda is facing a lonely summer at home, afraid Mo will forget about her. Thrust into nonstop church activities by her pious aunt, Rasheeda spends her time wallowing, feeling the pressure to be a "good girl," and being consoled by a flirtatious Lennie, Monique's brother. Rasheeda starts to give church a chance and deepens her relationship with Lennie, which leads to a deeply upsetting event. Writing from the girls' alternating third-person viewpoints, Chase lends authenticity to the characters' distinct voices. She delves into the unique pressures of ballet and church cultures with empathetic understanding while also referencing difficulties faced by the Black working-class communities to which the main characters belong. An insightful look at unintentional pressures placed upon children. (Fiction. 12-15)

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October 1, 2020
Grades 5-8 It's clear why Monique and Rasheeda are best friends: they're both good students and dancers, they live in the same low-income housing complex, and they work hard to make their parents proud. But when Mo is accepted into their school's talented and gifted dance program and later a prestigious sleep-away ballet intensive, Sheeda is left questioning her own dance ability and what the girls' summer has in store for them. With what feels like a world between them, the girls navigate unfamiliar territory and the social pressures of adolescence. For Sheeda it's a balancing act of faith, family, and friendship, while Mo deals with the racial biases of the ballet world and struggles to remain true to herself. With first-person narratives alternating between Mo and Sheeda, Chase's latest is unmistakeably set in the 'hood. But what will hook readers is exploring what happens when the ?hood comes face to face with whiteness in cultural exchange that is sure to shift perspectives and move hearts. Pearl-clutching moments aside, Turning Point is a timely middle-grade title, further diversifying representations of Black girlhood.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)