Up to This Pointe

November 2, 2015
Harper and her best friend Kate have dreamed of becoming professional ballerinas in the San Francisco Ballet ever since they were small, but after their plans go awry, Harper finagles her way into a six-month stint in Antarctica. Harper is a member of the Scott family (as in explorer Robert Falcon Scott), which makes her Antarctic “royalty,” and she’ll be one of three students sent to “The Ice” via a National Science Foundation grant. Flashback chapters following Harper’s time in San Francisco can’t help but feel conventional next to the newness and unfamiliarity of her time in Antarctica, but Harper’s passion for dance, jealousy over Kate’s success, and heartache when she realizes her own dancing dreams may not come to be are incisively written. “Your love is evident,” her instructor tells her. “But, darling, sometimes ballet does not love us back.” Longo (Six Feet Over It) makes it easy to commiserate with Harper as she tries to move past disappointment and envision a new path forward. Ages 12–up. Agent: Melissa Sarver White, Folio Literary Management.

November 1, 2015
Six months in an isolated Antarctic research station give Harper, a recent high school graduate, time to reflect and heal after the painful end of her ballet aspirations. Withdrawn Harper Scott arrives at the McMurdo Station, having pulled strings because of her family relationship to the famous Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott. Her tale of loss slowly unfolds through flashback chapters describing her life back home in San Francisco. Although Harper and her best friend have dedicated their entire lives to becoming professional ballerinas, recent events have forced Harper to accept that her body is fundamentally unsuited for professional ballet--regardless of her incredible passion and willingness to make sacrifices. While many readers will make early, accurate predictions about the death of Harper's career, rather than spoiling the big reveal, this foreknowledge makes witnessing Harper's denial of obvious warning signs incredibly painful. But, ultimately, given time to collect herself in a land where just surviving is challenging, and with the sage advice of another Antarctic explorer--Ernest Shackleton--Harper eventually charts a course toward a future that will honor her love of ballet and her talents for teaching young dancers (and might even leave room for a sensitive boyfriend). A moving love letter to dance, dreams, and San Francisco, and a look at how embracing personal passion leads to fulfillment (even if it wasn't part of the plan). (Fiction. 12-18)

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February 1, 2016

Gr 8 Up-Harper Scott had one plan, a plan devised in sixth grade to live the life of a ballerina with her best friend, Kate. She dedicated her life to ballet, yet after her plan defaults and Kate is offered her dream, Harper, a descendant of Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott, follows in her ancestor's footsteps and ventures to the Antarctic to heal and figure out where her future lies. With alternating narratives set in her hometown of San Francisco and Antarctica, Harper's clear voice will resonate with teens struggling to obtain their dreams while being comfortable with their abilities, even if their initial plans go south. Harper is a well-developed, relatable character. Her inner monologue is witty and dominates most of the novel, giving a unique perspective on how her relationships with secondary characters, as well as apparitions of Antarctic explorers, influence her decision-making. Relationships with a possible love interest, Owen, and new and old friends are well crafted. VERDICT A recommended read for determined teens with an interest in following and exploring their dreams.-Briana Moore, School Library Journal

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2015
Grades 8-11 Harper loves two things with all her heart: ballet and her best friend, Kate. Since sixth grade, Harper and Kate have been following the Plan, which involves auditioning for a professional dance company. But something derailed the Plan. Harper is now alone in Antarctica, wintering over. As a descendant of Robert Falcon Scott, Harper was allowed last-minute entry into the McMurdo science station for six long months. Chapters alternate between her experiences in Antarctica and the events that led to the abrupt dissolution of the Plan, and both stories are brutal. As a ballerina, Harper endures physical and emotional pain to the point of deformity, and despite that, it's where she's investing all her hopes and dreams. What, then, could cause her to flee thousands of miles from home? The two stories do not weave together easily, but the tension between them snags the reader's curiosity. Longo's fabulous depiction of McMurdo and the winter residents captures the beauty, humor, and danger of such an isolated existence. An adventure story with lots of heart.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

March 1, 2016
Harper Scott and her best friend Kate always planned to graduate early from high school and join the San Francisco Ballet company. In Harper's mind, If youdedicate your entire life to what you truly love and put all you have into itit is, in fact, impossible that it will not happen. But things don't always go according to plan, particularly in the hyper-competitive world of balletwhich is why, when we first meet Harper, she's on a research base in Antarctica, not rehearsing with the San Francisco Ballet. First-person, present-tense chapters alternately relate what's happening now in Antarctica and, beginning 140 days ago in San Francisco, the events that led up to Harper's current situation. Harper's grief, shock, and profound homesickness are immediate and wrenching as she slowly reveals the painful truth of what happened, which involves betrayal by Kate and, in Harper's mind, by ballet itself. Harper's temporary Antarctic life is evoked with as much vivid, fascinating detail as her second home, the ballet studio. Two subplots, involving Harper's rival beaux and a hallucination-producing thyroid disorder (resulting in pep talks from the ghost of explorer Ernest Shackleton), provide enough romance and lightheartedness to temper the poignancy. An affecting, memorable examination of disappointment and loss. katie bircher

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)