The big reveal

Addie loves to dance, and she's good at it--so when she is accepted into the prestigious Angles dance program, it's a dream come true. The only thing standing between Addie and Angles is $6,000. When Addie and her friends devise a plan to hold a ticketed burlesque show to raise the money, they expect some challenges. Now, Addie must stand up to sexism and fatphobia. Larsen (Future Perfect, 2015) tells a story of confidence and self-love in the face of discrimination through the unapologetic and determined Addie. With a broad cast of characters, including one who's suggested to be demisexual, Larsen depicts the diverse world of dance and creative expression in Addie's friends and their adventures. With its straightforward plot, the book offers predictable consequences but has a satisfying ending that is a touch less easy to foresee. A natural recommendation for fans of Jennifer Mathieu's Moxie (2017) looking for a story about body positivity and a better understanding of the burlesque world.

A White high school dancer, unable to afford a prestigious summer opportunity taught by an amazing, fat dance director, discovers burlesque. Eighteen-year-old Addie loves her friends and lives for dance. In the performing arts track at the Michigan boarding school where she's one of the few scholarship kids, Addie's flourished far from her thinness-obsessed mother in Florida. She wins a spot in a competitive program for aspiring dancers in Milan, with a director who's "dramatically, unapologetically fat, and perfect." But Addie doesn't win the program's scholarship, and how is she going to get $6,000? Her BFFs (a Black lesbian Instagram influencer; a queer Korean American boy who embraces gender as a spectrum; and a joyful White girl) convince Addie to let them help raise the money by dancing. Sexy dancing, of course. But in their sex-negative, misogynist high school, this fundraiser's going to have to be secret. Though bigotry against fat people batters against Addie's self-confidence (from the gross boys who neg her to her mother's well-meaning but abusive obsession with diets), her determination to love herself and claim her fatness are empowering. There's no hidden message of avoiding food, no incidental weight loss paralleling Addie's growth, just the conviction of one girl and her excellent friends that they are awesome and powerful and sexy. Unabashedly, determinedly positive, with truly comical banter and the heroic climax of a teen movie. (Fiction. 13-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Addie loves to dance, and she's good at it—so when she is accepted into the prestigious Angles dance program, it's a dream come true. The only thing standing between Addie and Angles is $6,000. When Addie and her friends devise a plan to hold a ticketed burlesque show to raise the money, they expect some challenges. Now, Addie must stand up to sexism and fatphobia. Larsen (Future Perfect, 2015) tells a story of confidence and self-love in the face of discrimination through the unapologetic and determined Addie. With a broad cast of characters, including one who's suggested to be demisexual, Larsen depicts the diverse world of dance and creative expression in Addie's friends and their adventures. With its straightforward plot, the book offers predictable consequences but has a satisfying ending that is a touch less easy to foresee. A natural recommendation for fans of Jennifer Mathieu's Moxie (2017) looking for a story about body positivity and a better understanding of the burlesque world. Grades 9-12. Copyright 2021 Booklist Reviews.