When Words Dance

Debut author, Beth Rubin, brings realistic characters and the problems they face in her new fiction book, When Words Dance. The central character, Eleven-year-old Maisey Miller lives in a small New Hampshire town where everyone knows everyone and secrets rarely stay buried. Sixth grade is a new world full of unexpected challenges, but none as terrifying as Maisey's secret about her reading.

Maisey is entering sixth grade and is trying to survive hiding her problems with reading and writing, her mother's high academic expectations, and a bully named Lisa. Her best friend, Joey, has always been able to help Maisey hide her struggles with reading, but sixth grade brings changes neither of them expected. Sixth grade is harder than Maisey expected. She's back in the lowest reading group, she's facing a high-stakes state test for middle school eligibility, and she has been assigned to a different math group without Joey. By January, Maisey is failing multiple subjects. Math is especially difficult without Joey there to help, and she's finding it nearly impossible to keep her head above water. Between her Christmas grounding and a stern warning from her mother, Maisey is on thin ice; she can't afford a single failing grade. When a sharp-eyed new teacher begins tracking Maisey's every move, it triggers a parent-teacher conference that changes everything. Faced with the news that she likely won't pass the state reading assessment-and could be held back from seventh grade-Maisey's carefully crafted world begins to crumble.

After the conference, Maisey faces a scary choice: continue the exhausting effort to keep her secret and risk being held back, or does she finally trust someone with the truth? Maisey has to decide soon, but what if the one person she needs most won't understand?