About the Book

DANCE, KAYLA! is an engaging novel about a young girl's courage—how she copes with difficult changes in her life. Kayla dreams about her deceased mother—who she never knew—and lives with hope that her absentee, dancing father comes back into her life. Her grandmother's sudden death robs Kayla of the only mother she had known, and she leaves her beloved farm in South Carolina to begin a new life with her cousins and a big, inner-city school in Chicago. Through it all, Kayla clings to her dream of becoming a ballerina!

Reviews and Recognition

Reviewers give DANCE, KAYLA! five stars! It was chosen as one of the best children's books by the Banks Street College Selection Committee. It’s a favorite of Mothers and Daughters book clubs, and kids say they love it! One sixth-grade boy said, Reading Kayla! changed my life!