Books in which ballet figures in prominently:
Bunheads is about 19-year-old Hannah Ward, who, due to her talent and extremely hard work, is a senior corps member with the Manhattan Ballet. Just as her career really begins to take off, she starts dating... and ultimately realizes that she's going to have to pick one or the other. If you're looking for a behind-the-scenes look at the ballet world, this is the one.
Various Positions, meanwhile, is about 14-year-old Georgia Slade. She's a student at the Royal Toronto Ballet Academy. While there is, of course, a whole lot of ballet in this one, the focus is actually much more on Georgia's somewhat confused feelings about sex and about her sexual awakening... which involves one of her instructors. The writing is quite lovely, but be prepared for some seriously uncomfortable moments.
A Company of Swans is just as delightful as any other of Eva Ibbotson's romance novels, but this one's about a girl in a ballet company. Charming to the max.
Eva, one of the two heroines in Jersey Tomatoes are the Best, is a ballerina. (Her best friend, Henry, is a tennis player.) While Various Positions and Bunheads both deal with eating disorders tangentially, the focus of Eva's storyline is on her struggle with anorexia.
Others? There must be more...
According to Kit by Eugenie Doyle, The Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore, and Dancing in Red Shoes Will Kill You by Dorian Cirrone (worst cover ever?)
I love dance, so I'll definitely check out any others in the comments!
Posted by: Karen | 06 August 2012 at 09:31 AM
Oooh, an Eva Ibbotson about ballet? Sounds perfect :)
Posted by: Iris | 06 August 2012 at 11:53 AM
My all-time favorite is Thursday's Children by Rumer Godden.
A Company of Swans was lovely, and Bunheads was quite enjoyable.
Posted by: Genevieve | 06 August 2012 at 12:32 PM
Good lord, the Red Shoes cover is something only a mother or Katy Perry could love.
I might quibble about The Splendor Falls since the dancing is done before the book begins, but who am I to deprive anyone of the wonderful Rosemary Clement-Moore?
There's also A Time for Dancing, which I've never read because I am the opposite of a fan of tear-jerkers.
Posted by: Lisa | 06 August 2012 at 02:47 PM
Audition by Stasia Kehoe!
Posted by: Beth | 06 August 2012 at 07:48 PM
Rose Sees Red by Cecil Castelucci
The Kings are Already Here by Garrett Freymann-Weyr
Posted by: Juliene | 06 August 2012 at 11:58 PM
How far back in time are we going? Because Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes has to be the originator of them all. I know it's for slightly younger kids but its awesome.
And there's Lorna Hill's Sadler's Wells books: http://www.goodreads.com/series/54574-sadler-s-wells
Posted by: Electric Landlady | 07 August 2012 at 12:46 PM
Aaargh, apostrophe fail. I hide my face in shame.
Posted by: Electric Landlady | 07 August 2012 at 12:47 PM
The Cranes Dance by Meg Howrey, which I guess isn't really YA. (I haven't read it; my mom, a lifelong ballet nut, has.)
Posted by: Seth Christenfeld | 07 August 2012 at 11:12 PM
I loved A Company of Swans, and have been re-reading it with a ballerina friend this summer. The ballet holds up very well, and of course the romance does too. :)
Posted by: Alysa | 10 August 2012 at 03:20 PM
Ballet Shoes byb Noel Streetfield.
Posted by: Ruby | 11 August 2012 at 07:24 PM