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House of Dance |
Author: Beth Kephart
Published: 2008-05-27 |
List price: $16.99
Our price: $13.25
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As of: November 20th, 2008 11:33:18 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Another WONDERFUL Kephart book!
After reading Undercover by Beth Kephart, I couldn't wait to read her latest book, House of Dance. I was not disappointed. She has the ability to create magical moments and stories out of everyday life. House of Dance is the simple story of Rosie, who takes care of her dying grandfather for the summer. It also delves into the complicated relationships between parents and children. The words are so lyrical that I felt what Rosie felt, saw what she saw, smelled what she smelled. Kephart's books are always very visual and symbolic. It makes the story that much more rewarding. As long as she keeps writing books, I will keep reading!
 Courtesy of Teens Read Too
Rosie Keith is in for a long summer. Her friends are all scattered for the three months at various jobs and camps, and her mother is hardly ever home, preferring to spend time with her business partner, who is also the man she is having an affair with. So Rosie turns to her grandfather, who is dying of cancer.
During those long summer days, she helps Granddad clean through his multitudes of possessions, placing things to keep In Trust. It is on one of those day she discovers The House of Dance, and begins taking lessons there, hoping to put In Trust again a few of Granddad's long-ago memories before he is gone for good.
HOUSE OF DANCE is a distinct and intense look at Rosie's life, her losses, and how her family reacts to same. Kephart's words are lyrical and her incisive style propels the reader easily through the book. Her in-depth look at illness and foreshadowing of death are very realistic and heartfelt. You will find yourself relating easily to Rosie, and admiring her strength in this wonderfully crafted novel.
Reviewed by: The Compulsive Reader
For the dancer in everyone
I've been taking ballroom dancing lessons the past few years and so I read HOUSE OF DANCE with interest. I was surprised by how well this novel captures the world of dance, and I was moved by Rosie's story.
I highly recommend this book.
House of Dance Takes Readers for A Poignant Spin
Beth Kephart, author of YA novel "Undercover" and now the latest "House of Dance" has gifted us all with yet another beautiful, poignant and engaging work of fiction.
These YA books from Kephart are such a fresh and much-needed change from the Queen bees, mean girls and paint-by-number YA novels that one sees everywhere on shelves in brick and mortar stores today.
The "House of Dance" is meant to sweep your off your feet and dance you effortlessly across the floor of love, devotion, memory and music.
The slow-quick-quick movement of life and loss
You cannot buy a man who is dying a single meaningful thing. You can only give him back the life he loved and awaken the memories.
Rosie's father left when she was quite young. His only interaction with her comes in the mail: a weekly twenty-dollar bill. She has saved his money in a shoebox in the back of her closet as proof "that love cannot be bought."
Shortly after Rosie's father took off, her mother took a new job washing windows and eventually took up with her (married) boss. (She'd been taken from, that was her thinking, and now it was her turn for taking.) Instead of feeling left behind, Rosie learned how to take care of herself and never complained, a quiet strength building inside of her.
Now Rosie is fifteen years old and the grandfather she barely knows is dying. She is sent to check on him by her mother, who is too busy and too stubborn to visit him herself. Luckily, Granddad and his cat Riot are only a twenty-minute walk away. With her friends gone for the summer and her mother always at work, Rosie begins to fill her days with visits to her grandfather. As she helps him sort his belongings, they grow closer. She learns about the grandmother she never knew and the trips her grandparents never took. She also gains an appreciation for jazz music.
On one of her walks through town, Rosie discovers the House of Dance. Once she finally summons up the courage to enter the ballroom studio, her mother's heeled sandals dangling from her hand, she is rewarded with new friends and new routines. An idea starts to form in the back of her mind. As her grandfather's condition worsens, she works hard to make that idea into a reality. There are many supporting players - the other dancers, the instructors, Granddad's nurse, Rosie's friends, the local shopkeepers - who are instrumental to Rosie's plan, and they all chip in.
House of Dance captures the slow-quick-quick movement of life and loss. As with Kephart's previous young adult novel, Undercover, the narrator tells her story at the speed of thought, revealing things to readers that she would never say out loud. She considers happy and sad memories in turn, blending her past with the present day. Detailed in emotions and colors, the characters come to life. Recommended.
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