Saturday 22 December 2012

Sadler's Wells #1: A Dream of Sadler's Wells (Children's, 9 years+, 10/10)


original 1950 (half a century ago!) Piccolo Books
190 pages, Paperback
Personal Copy

Themes: ballet, family tragedy, experiencing a different lifestyle, being hated, managing to have fun in spite of everything, selling things, pony riding, several mishaps, lots of laughter, a few tears 

Summary from Amazon UK (I don't benefit from mentioning them)

In "A Dream of Sadler's Wells", 14-year-old Veronica is suddenly uprooted from her life in London and the ballet classes she loves so much when her father dies. 

Nayuleska's thoughts

I read these when I was under 10 years old, and it was such a wonderful find when I sorted the loft with my family. I have nearly the entire series. Unlike Drina (See suggested read) this series doesn't follow just Veronica - it follows lots of girls. However, Veronica is the one readers come to love in book one. She is a spirited child, a bit nervous because she's so unused to leaing with her cousins. One of them positively hates her, but the other likes her. 

Although she is without ballet for a bit, she finds a way to keep practicing. Eventually she is able to practise more openly, which makes her extremely happy. This is where the foundations of friendships are made for Veronica, which will play a big role throughout the series. I love ballet books and managed to gobble this up in one sitting. I wasn't disappointed - although I'd read them long ago I'd forgotten more or less all of the book, so it was just like reading this 10/10 for the first time again (except I knew it was a happy ending!)

Lorna died in 1991 

Suggested read

For another awesome series check out Drina's ballet life, which starts with Ballet for Drina by Jean Estoril 

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