The Turning
Published on 21. October 2014
215 pages
978-1-4976-7385-4 (ISBN)
Description
As the Soviet Union crumbles, one ballerina dreams of Paris
It is 1991, and revolution is coming to the Soviet Union, but in Leningrad, life goes on as it always has. Food is scarce and luxuries are few, but for a young dancer named Tanya, life is a beautiful dream. She dances all day and all night, performing on the stage of the greatest theater in Russia. Her family has sacrificed everything for her dream, and their efforts are finally paying off. Soon the company will tour Europe, and Tanya will see Paris-a city so beautiful that she has begun to contemplate the unthinkable: leaving the Soviet Union forever.
Paris offers a chance for defection, which would mean saying good-bye to her family. But as the group prepares for the trip, politics and romance tempt her to stay in Leningrad. Soon Tanya must choose her path. Does her future lie in Paris-or in a new Russia?
It is 1991, and revolution is coming to the Soviet Union, but in Leningrad, life goes on as it always has. Food is scarce and luxuries are few, but for a young dancer named Tanya, life is a beautiful dream. She dances all day and all night, performing on the stage of the greatest theater in Russia. Her family has sacrificed everything for her dream, and their efforts are finally paying off. Soon the company will tour Europe, and Tanya will see Paris-a city so beautiful that she has begun to contemplate the unthinkable: leaving the Soviet Union forever.
Paris offers a chance for defection, which would mean saying good-bye to her family. But as the group prepares for the trip, politics and romance tempt her to stay in Leningrad. Soon Tanya must choose her path. Does her future lie in Paris-or in a new Russia?
More details
Person
Gloria Whelan is a poet, short story writer, and novelist best known for her children's and young adult fiction. Whelan has been writing since childhood and was the editor of her high school newspaper. Many of her books are set in Michigan, but she also writes about faraway places based on her travels abroad. In 2000 she won the National Book Award for her young adult novel
Homeless Bird. Her other works have earned places among the American Library Association's Best Books for Young Adults, the International Reading Association's Teachers' Choices and Children's Choices, Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, and Los Angeles' 100 Best Books. Whelan has also received the Mark Twain Award and the O. Henry Award. She lives in Detroit, Michigan.
Content
- Cover Page
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Chapter 1: Escape
- Chapter 2: Politics
- Chapter 3: Sasha
- Chapter 4: Guilty by Association
- Chapter 5: The Rescue
- Chapter 6: A Confession
- Chapter 7 Making Trouble FDR Gregory
- Chapter 8: Saving Sasha
- Chapter 9: The Dangerous Errand
- Chapter 10: Tanks in the Street
- Chapter 11: Paris
- Glossary
- About the Author
- Copyright Page
