Choreography Bibiliography

Tiny Pretty Things

By: Sona Charaipotra & Dhonielle Clayton
Narrated by: Imani Parks, Nora Hunter, Greta Jung & Laura Delano
Length: 13 hours 12 minutes

“I absolutely loved this YA novel of catty competitiveness among elite teenage ballerinas. Competition for the top ballet spots, of course, but also for boys and attention and love and identity. I would not want to be friends with many of these characters, but they were so fun to read about. And the ending was perfect. Read more

Shiny Broken Pieces: A Tiny Pretty Things Novel

By: Sona Charaipotra & Dhonielle Clayton
Narrated by: Laura Delano, Nora Hunter, Imani Parks & Greta Jung
Length: 11 hours 5 minutes

Now a Netflix TV show! Featuring a diverse cast of characters, plenty of gossip, lies, and scandal, Shiny Broken Pieces continues with the soapy drama readers loved in Tiny Pretty Things.June, Bette, and Gigi are competing one final time for a spot at the prestigious American Ballet Company. With the stakes higher than ever, these girls have... Read more

Swing Time

By: Zadie Smith
Narrated by: Pippa Bennett-Warner
Length: 13 hours 45 minutes

“After the narrator is released from her job, she moves back to the city of her childhood where she first grew her attachment to dance. Dance becomes imbued with multifaceted symbolism, representing an escape and possibility for dreams; as well as, illustrating the history of racism, epitomized by Swing Time the musical comedy from 1936 starring... Read more

Astonish Me

A novel

By: Maggie Shipstead
Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
Length: 10 hours 10 minutes

“In the spring of 2014, I picked up Maggie Shipstead’s Astonish Me at a book signing. I hadn’t read her first novel, Seating Arrangements, but I’d heard great things about it, and I was thirsty to learn as much as I could from good writers, especially women. Astonish Me turned out to be my favourite read of the year. The writing is lovely and the... Read more

I Wanna Be Where You Are

By: Kristina Forest
Narrated by: Jeanette Illidge
Length: 7 hours 7 minutes

A debut young adult rom-com about an African American ballerina who finds love on the road to an audition.

"Chloe's determination to be a professional ballerina is palpable in Jeanette Illidge's narration of this realistic YA romance...Dancers and non-dancers alike will enjoy this romance and root for Chloe and Eli to get together." —... Read more

The Cranes Dance

By: Meg Howrey
Narrated by: Justine Eyre
Length: 11 hours 41 minutes

“This book is a fascinating world into the world of dance, through the eyes of a jaded, cynical, aging (so, mid twenties maybe?) ballerina whose acerbic voice reflects this jadedness and cynicism so well. This was one of those unputdownable books – especially if you love a deep dive into the mind of a brilliantly drawn character. Bonus: the... Read more

The Walls Around Us

By: Nova Ren Suma
Narrated by: Georgia King & Sandy Rustin
Length: 8 hours 56 minutes

“This book is beautifully written, and it’s weird and spooky in the best way. There is ballet (which is how it hooked me) and there are possible ghosts and there is murder and there is prison and there are girls who are meaner (hopefully) than anyone you went to school with. This was unputdownable. There was less ballet than I was hoping for, but... Read more

Life in Motion

An Unlikely Ballerina

By: Misty Copeland
Narrated by: Lisa Reneé Pitts
Length: 9 hours 9 minutes

"Picture a ballerina in a tutu and toe shoes. What does she look like?"

As the only African-American soloist dancing with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland has made history. But when she first placed her hands on the barre at an after-school community center, no one expected the undersized, anxious thirteen-year-old to... Read more

Raising the Barre

Big Dreams, False Starts, and My Midlife Quest to Dance the Nutcracker

By: Lauren Kessler
Narrated by: Hollis McCarthy
Length: 9 hours 41 minutes

When Lauren Kessler was twelve, her ballet instructor crushed not just her dreams of being a ballerina but also her youthful self-assurance. Now, many decades and three children later, Kessler embarks on a journey to join a professional company to perform in The Nutcracker. Raising the Barre is more than just one woman's story; it is a story... Read more