Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Dancing With Ana

Dancing With Ana
Dancing With Ana
Author: Nicole Barker
Genre: Teen & Young Adult
Book Type: Paperback
dolleygurl avatar reviewed on + 32 more book reviews


Genre: Young Adult

Beths life is perfect. She has what every high school girl wants: great friends, a great body, and a cute boy who likes herexcept that its only on the surface. Underneath everything her life is a mess. Her parents are divorced and the loss of her father is eating at her slowly. She begins to not enjoy the things that she used to and becomes fixated on losing weight. Everyone around her is worried about her. Will she be able to regain control of her life or will it continue to spin out of control?

Beths story is one that is poignant for many young girls in todays society. Divorce and weight issues are common scenarios. While this story could have easily fallen into clichéd territory, Nicole Barker does a phenomenal job at creating stories and characters that you care about. By the second chapter I was absorbed in Beths story and couldnt wait to read what would happen next. Her characters are very real. They not only have real problems, but they react in real ways. Being a few years out of high-school myself, I could still relate to the problems Beth and her friends were facing. The way this story is written I think that anyone of any age can relate and enjoy it.

This book would be a perfect book for any teen girl to read; its hard being a teen today. Issues of self image, self-mutilation, peer pressure, divorce, and relationships are all approached in this story in a way that is sensitive but without feeling patronizing and preachy. It really illustrates how quickly something can spiral out of control and how hard it can be to climb back out of that hole. There is a light at the end of the tunnel though.

I received this book from the author for review. This was a quick and awesome read. I would highly recommend this read. Dont brush it off because it is a young adult novel.

4.5 out of 5 stars!