The Only Boy in Ballet Class
by Denise Gruska; illustrated by Amy Wummer
Reviewed by Kelly Herold
Being the boy who likes ballet—or figure skating, or clogging, or, well, you get the picture—is never easy. When you’re the boy who likes ballet, you’re usually the only boy in your dance class. And that's the least of your problems. Often, other boys at school will make fun of you. And, surely, there’s a disapproving relative—an uncle, or a grandmother, or a parent—who will try to convince you that ballet is simply not appropriate for boys.
Enter Denise Gruska’s The Only Boy in Ballet Class, a book for those children who love something so passionately they can’t help but following their dreams. “Tucker Dohr loves to dance ... The other kids think he’s weird, but he can’t help it. It feels right to him. Like breathing.”
Tucker loves to dance so much that he tries to ignore the fact that he’s the “last one picked for softball. And basketball. And volleyball. He tries to pretend that he doesn’t care. He reminds himself that he’d rather dance anyway.” But we all know ignoring only helps so much when you’re in grade school. The small print in parentheses tells us, “But sometimes he has to cry about it at night when he’s alone.”
The boys playing football are the cruelest to Tucker and he has to endure their taunts on the way to his afternoon class each time he attends. But, and this is what I like best about The Only Boy in Ballet Class, the bullying is simply a conflict and a fact of life, not the focus of the story. Tucker’s love of dance and his passion for movement stays front and center and, thanks to Amy Wummer’s charming and accessible illustrations, comes through to the reader. We dance with Tucker when he needs to “leap over Marbles” (the family cat) or “spin past his tricky, tricky twin sisters.” We feel Tucker’s joy in movement and want to dance along.
Sprinkled with an offering of ballet terms, Gruska’s text is lively and will appeal most to readers ages four to nine. Her resolution of the bully conflict is unexpected, but fitting with Tucker’s joyful nature and the magic of dance. The Only Boy in Ballet Class is for all the “different” kids of the world and should be required reading in the first through third grades.
Rating: *\*\*\
There is a foreign beer ad I once saw where a young man is headed off for ballet class as his friends react in shock. They follow the young man to his classes to discover this:
The male dancer gets to hold one beautiful woman after another in, um, provocative poses. And of course, male ballet dancers are incredibly fit.
It's too bad American society sees dancing as something to make fun of. Even to this day, I have a touch of shyness about dancing in public simply because male peer pressure is so strong against it.
Posted by: brettdl | December 13, 2007 at 07:00 AM
I noticed. Sigh.
Posted by: Anne | December 13, 2007 at 09:19 AM
See, Brett. You needed this book when you were younger. Think of how happy Anne would be :)
Posted by: kelly | December 13, 2007 at 10:14 AM
Yeah, I can think of someone who might have benefited from having had that book as a child, too. Hmmm... I agree that it's must-reading, but I'm a little afraid to buy it for my friends' kids, for boys anyway, because I don't want them to be insulted. Which, I guess, is precisely the point.
Posted by: Jen Robinson | December 13, 2007 at 11:42 PM
Great review, Kelly!
Jen, get the book. It's adorable.
Posted by: Little Willow | December 14, 2007 at 07:22 AM
This looks great. Off to request it from the pubalic liberry. Thanks.
Posted by: Jules | December 14, 2007 at 03:54 PM