Dance, Kayla! Book

When her grandmother dies, Kayla, a young African-American girl, loses the only mother she has ever known and must leave her farm life in South Carolina to go and live with an aunt and uncle in Chicago. Throughout all of the difficult times, however, Kayla clings to her dream of becoming a ballerina. 160 pp. Ages 9-11. Pub: 4/98.

Children's Literature

Although eleven-year-old Kayla's mother died in childbirth and her dancer father rarely visits or even writes, her life with her loving Gran and Granpa in a rural African American community in South Carolina has been almost idyllic. This changes suddenly when Gran dies of a heart attack and Kayla is sent to live in Chicago with her aunt, uncle and three cousins. How the sensitive but strong-minded Kayla gradually adjusts to her new family, school and life in a big city, and how she also manages to work toward her goal of becoming a dancer, makes for a realistic novel that should especially appeal to pre-teen girls.