Amy Ehrlich tells the story of Clara who lives with her father and grandmother. She has a wonderful relationship with
her grandmother similar to best friends. When her grandmother becomes ill and
dies, she with her father are deeply saddened and she doesn’t feel any joy
anymore. One night, she heard music and was drawn to it, so she went outside to
see where it was coming from. It was a trio of musicians and there were dancers
as well; she loved it all so much. Clara’s father came to get her and led her
back home but she still heard the music. The next night she thought of the
dancers and decided to go looking for them in the forest. She found them and
heard a woman singing nearby, and she asked the dancer if she could teach Clara
how to dance. She told Clara if she was a true dancer, her feet would move to
the music by themselves and they did. She went home in the morning wanting more
and even though she wasn’t supposed to, she went back to see ‘her dancer.’ In
this encounter, she finds out the dancer is her mother who chose to leave with
this trio and dancers while she was married. Her mother dances with her father
one last time and he understands that she has to leave. But Clara’s
relationship with her father is restored when he offers to play the piano so
she can dance.
Personally, I really liked this
story overall but it made me really upset that this woman would leave her
family twice to be a dancer. Her daughter is on the verge of being a teenager and I
know girls really need their moms at this time and throughout their lives. But
on a counterpart, I enjoyed that Clara had a new found relationship with her
father. They definitely need each other at this time of their lives. The
illustrations are wonderful; you can’t what each character’s ethnicity is.
Clara’s mother looks Latina
This book could touch home with a lot of kids because all too often we have kids in this generation who's parents had left to go after their dreams. It could really get them talking in a classroom! (: good job!
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