Clara lives with her father and grandmother in a little village. More than anything, Clara love to dance, but her father has had too much sadness in his life to abide dancing. When Clara sees a troupe of dancers performing in the village one summer day, she is enchanted and follows their wagons deep into the forest. What she finds there changes her life forever... 

 Author Amy Ehrlich has brought us a very touching story that will surely move the hearts of all the young girls who would be attracted by its title, along with the teachers and parents who will be reading it to them. Very adult emotions - loss from death, sacrific, waiting to come of age - are all handled sensitively by simply concentrating on the outward expressions of those emotions. This allows the younger readers to muse, unforced, on the reasons behind the characters' actions and why they are preferred from more drastic solutions. The story also benefits from being original and unpredictable, and mothers will also find this a favourite.

Of course, keen readers of this review will note that I'm deliberately stressing the feminine reaction to this book; there is very little, if anything, that will allow any boy to identify with any part of this tale. Even the mild rebellion that Clara goes through is so mild that it's quashed before she even realises what she's doing. Unlike in fairy tales, where a heroine suffers from persecution and an almost universal desire to escape it, Ehrlich presents us with a girl who never sees herself as persecuted, and her desires are assisted at all times solely by tender female characters who empathise with her traditionally feminine longings. Billy Elliot worked because he was a boy who loved to dance, but he was also the kind of lad who would get challenged about his dreams and lash out at those who disagreed with him. Clara is never challenged, and certainly doesn't lash out. Even her father, her main "obstacle", is a passive figure of melancholy.

Consequently this is unlikely to become a classroom favourite, and would struggle to work as well in PSHCE or SEAL as books like One Boy's War which entrance youngsters of both genders through a blend of recognisably "boyish" motifs and strong sentiment. But young girls could certainly stand to gain from reading this book in a one-to-one.

Finally, the gorgeous artwork of Rebecca Walsh is worth a mention as, once again, it will help Clara to become a vivid icon for young girls with artistic ambition.

2009-05-25