Michaela and her best friend are adopted by an American couple and Michaela begins to take dance lessons. It's simply written, in a very good way and probably because of the primary audience of younger readers.

After she was featured in the ballet documentary, First Position, Michaela debuted professionally as a guest principal at the Joburg Ballet in South Africa. Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Azerbaijan Republic, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde Islands, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), French Guiana, Gabon Republic, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Macau, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Republic of Croatia, Republic of the Congo, Reunion, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Swaziland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands (U.For as John Donne, the English poet once wrote, “No man is an island entire of itself…” In other words, you can’t make it alone in life. She grew up in Sierra Leone and was orphaned as a child, yet her love of ballet kept her going through the manga difficulties she faced. Elaine DePrince is a graduate of Rutgers University, an author, and a former special education teacher.

The orphanage was a place of sorrow with the children making their own fun with the scraps they had. But when a mortar blast outside the hospital where he worked as an orthopedic surgeon sent him home from Afghanistan with devastating injuries, the dilapidated cabin he'd inherited from his grandfather seemed as good a place to regroup as any. This is an inspiring story of achieving dreams and holding on to hope, as well a lovely insight into a family who raised five sons (three adopted, I think), before Elaine (the mother) took a leave of absence from law school to adopt a child from West Africa - - over the next few years they ended up with six daughters, including Michaela. The only slight downside to the book was that it was quite simply written, and although the author used descriptive language, parts of it seemed more suitable for a younger age group. I'm not sure how she remembered so many details of the story as she left Sierra Leone as a 4-year old.

Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. Then the civil war rips her family apart: her father is murdered by rebels, and her mother sickens and dies. Such an incredible, honest, hard hitting and hopeful memoir detailing Michaela DePrince's life up to her late teenage years. Last but not least among those who saved me, is the little girl who was my constant companion in the orphanage, Mabinty Suma.

She even observes first hand the murder of her favourite teacher at the orphanage before fleeing to Ghana where her adoptive parents arrive to take her and her best friend to the USA. This is an autobiography about a girl named Michaela DePrince who was born in Sierra Leone and is then adopted by an American family after her parent's death in the Sierra Leone civil war.The straightforward way in which both Michaela and her mother, Elaine tackle racism and other issues is novel, and shows that when strengthened by family, even the most cutting of remarks can't stop someone great from reaching their full potential. But one day, the Harmattan winds blow a magazine against the gates – its cover photograph showing a beautiful ballerina. Though they were motivated by money, and they were not the nicest men, they did lead me out of the horror of the war in Sierra Leone and into the arms of a loving mother. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. A day came when the girls were all adopted by American families, rescued from the disguised day-to-day trauma in the orphanage.

I actually picked it up because I have a little girl who loves dance so I'm interested in reading about people who have a passion for dance, find it empowering and an outlet for their creativity (think Billy Elliott, LOL). In the process, she has featured in a documentary, First Position, that looks at the demanding life of a professional ballerina; she has become a beacon of hope for black ballet dancers around the world (who feature all too rarely in professional dance troupes); and she has spoken at the United Nations on the issues faced by children affected by war. As I am quite familiar with Africa and ballet training, I found it hard to put this book down, but I think it would appeal to anyone with an interest in humankind. In a society where people could feel discouraged or hopeless, Michaela's story is an inspiration to follow our dreams and find happiness in the face of hardship. Besides dancing, Michaela loves reaching out to disadvantaged young people, with whom she shares her message of hard work, perseverance, hope, and striving for a dream.Hope in a Ballet Shoe is the emotively uplifting, coming of age autobiography of ballerina Michaela DePrince. I was also quite amazed by her adoptive parents, they were awesome and everyone could definitely learn a thing or two from them.