84 Ribbons

What does it take to succeed when you're a teen with your life spread before you, waiting for you to claim it? Author Paddy Eger says, "Tenacity". Top national book reviewers agree. In the Spring Issue of YA ForeSight, ForeWord Reviews recommends "84 Ribbons" as one of five new Young Adult novels for teens up against steep challenges. DanceSpirit Magazine chooses '84 Ribbons' for it's "Pick of the Month" and features it in the up-coming April 2014 issue. Leia Menlove, reviewer for ForeWord Reviews wrote, "These titles remind us that youth isn't all puppy love and teen angst... This lifetime offers boundless opportunity for growth--even for greatness... For those young readers who are experiencing the inevitable rough patches, these titles serve as a reminder that many of the direst troubles can be surmountable or, at least, survivable." Eger believes it's tenacity that carries us through uncertainty at all ages. "We possess three types of tenacity: physical, mental and emotional. Each comes into play for everyone including my ballet dancer, Marta Selbryth." Eger powerfully steps into fiction writing with her debut novel, the first of three in the series, that follows Marta as she realizes her dream: to join a professional ballet company. "Marta¿s prepared for dancing," Eger says, "but not for the myriad of obstacles that begin as she steps off the bus in Billings, Montana in the late 1950s and into her new journey to adulthood. She's a typical teen, looking ahead with excitement, yet not fully grasping all that growing up has in store." Seventeen-year-old Marta Selbryth steps into womanhood and onto the stage. We feel the music swell as the moment arrives for Marta--and ballerinas everywhere. As Marta realizes her dream, life's challenges beyond the footlights are not at all what she anticipated. We walk beside her as she approaches each twist and turn in her new life. A compelling coming-of-age novel, this look inside the world of ballet offers both inspiration and heartbreak. How will she handle being on her own for the first time in a new town? Will she see success beyond the thrill of the music and lights, the costumes and applause? "Like these young dancers, new adults often face challenges and disappointments and are pushed to their limits as they strive for physical, mental and emotional tenacity," says Eger. "'84 Ribbons' presents a balance between the world of ballet and the everyday world that waits just beyond the spotlight."

Listed under Family & Relationships · Juvenile Nonfiction · Social Topics · Juvenile Fiction