Keira is sixteen and she wants to be a dancer. A ballet dancer. But that takes training and training costs money, which her mother doesn’t have. They can’t afford to continue her lessons. But Keira refuses to give up on the dream she’s had since first grade. So she gathers the money she’s stashed away, stuffs some clothes and her dancing shoes into a duffel bag, and gets on a bus to New York City.
Keira’s got big plans—studying with Martha Graham, becoming a Rockette to make extra money—but very little understanding of how easily New York can tear up your plans and leave you with nothing. Before her day in the city is over, she’ll have to choose between something bad and something that could be even worse.
When I wrote “The Beginner,” the teenager I had in mind was one of my sisters, an extraordinary dancer who never made it to the stage. But the character is named after my sister’s granddaughter, yet another extraordinary dancer, who’s been taking lessons since she was a toddler.
