Title: Audition
Author: Stasia Ward Kehoe
458 pages, Published by Viking (An Imprint of Penguin Group)
Age Recommendation: 12 & up.
Stasia’s Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Buy The Book: Amazon
Summary: When high school junior Sara wins a coveted scholarship to study ballet, she must sacrifice everything for her new life as a professional dancer-in-training. Living in a strange city with a host family, she’s deeply lonely-until she falls into the arms of Remington, a choreographer in his early twenties. At first, she loves being Rem’s muse, but as she discovers a surprising passion for writing, she begins to question whether she’s chosen the right path. Is Rem using her, or is it the other way around? And is dancing still her dream, or does she need something more? This debut novel in verse is as intense and romantic as it is eloquent. (Summary provided by Viking.)
My Thoughts:
(Keep reading after the review for information about an awesome contest Stasia Ward Kehoe is hosting at her blog and check out the book trailer below.)
I read Audition by Stasia Ward Kehoe a couple of months ago, and from the moment I finished her brilliant debut YA novel I have been dying to sing its praises! Audition is written in verse. Wonderful, wonderful verse. Kehoe writes beautifully in free verse and uses the poetic form to paint a vivid portrait of Sara, a young girl on her own for the first time.
Sara is on a ballet scholarship at a dance school in New Jersey. She is staying with a host family, the Medranos. While the Medranos are a good family and nice to Sara, it’s just not the same as being at home with her parents. So for the first time Sara is guiding her own way and she feels a little lost. I think so many teens will be able to relate to the way Sara feels.
Sara begins a relationship with Remington, or as I refer to him “the deplorable Rem”. Rem is one of those characters I love to hate. At 22 years old Rem is much older than Sara. Keep in mind I’m reading this as a mom and former educator. So when a 22 year old begins dating a high school student alarm bells go off in my mind immediately!I even looked up the legal age of consent in New Jersey and that sneaky Rem wasn’t breaking any laws. Yes, for those of you keeping track, I was SO into this book that I was googling laws because I wanted to have one of the (fictional) characters arrested! You KNOW it’s a damn fine book when I get that into it! FYI- I emailed the author right after reading to let her know how much I liked it, and I rarely do that.
Do you like films with a ballet company setting (like Black Swan or Robert Altman’s The Company)? Do you like shows like So You Think You Can Dance? or Dancing With The Stars? Do you enjoy books written in verse? Or perhaps you just enjoy good ole’ teen angst? If you like any of these things, then you will LOVE Audition by Stasia Ward Kehoe.
*Super Awesome Contest Alert!* Click here to enter a giveaway that Stasia is hosting on her blog. You could win a signed copy of AUDITION, one of three ballerina swag packs (arm warmers, sticky notes, signed bookmarks), or one of 3 signed Audition posters. Enter up to once a day (each completed form counts as one entry but you can earn extra entry points below). For every 50 entries, ANOTHER PRIZE will added. Updates on FB at “Audition by Stasia Ward Kehoe” and on Twitter @swkehoe. Contest runs 10/1-30/11.
Here is the book trailer for Audition:
Make sure you check out all of the stops on the Audition blog tour!
OCTOBER 1 Eve’s Fan Garden
OCTOBER 3 Good Books and Good Wine
OCTOBER 4 YA Bliss and Arts in YA Feature week at The Page Turners Blog
OCTOBER 6 The Book Cellar
OCTOBER 7 Princess Bookie
OCTOBER 9 Missy Reads Reviews
OCTOBER 10 G Reads
OCTOBER 11 The Book Scout
OCTOBER 12 Author Spotlight at YA Contemps
OCTOBER 13 More than Just a Book & Confessions of a Bookaholic
OCTOBER 14 The Story Siren
OCTOBER 15 & 16 Debut feature at Badass Bookie
OCTOBER 16 Red House Books
OCTOBER 18 The Well-Read Wife
OCTOBER 19 Good Choice Reading
OCTOBER 20 Bloggers (heart) Books
OCTOBER 22 Books Devoured
OCTOBER 23 Reclusive Bibliophile
OCTOBER 24 Literary Rambles
OCTOBER 25 The Hiding Spot
OCTOBER 26 The Undercover Book Lover
OCTOBER 27 Novel Novice
OCTOBER 28 A Good Addiction
OCTOBER 29 Bookalicious
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
really good book! loved its so much from the first page to the very last page. but the thing i hated the most is when a 22 year old has a committed realationship with a 16 year old girl now that is wrong and against the law either way loved the book great book and i recommend you read it.
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