Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2021-10-27 05:06:01 Associated-names DePrince, Elaine, author Boxid IA40274701 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier Growing up in war-torn Sierra Leone, Michaela DePrince witnesses atrocities that no child ever should. Her father is killed by rebels and her mother dies of famine. Sent to an orphanage, Michaela is mistreated and she sees the brutal murder of her favourite teacher. Having been adopted at the age of four, alongside her best friend Mia, Michaela initially finds life in America difficult to adjust to. The cultural differences, as well as the impact that war and abuse had on both girls created fears that would appear unfounded to the onlooker, and that were overcome, in time, by the help of their family. The book is very much focused on family ties, and how in spite of the effects past events can have on young children, love and patience can overcome these obstacles. Some of these people I loved; others I detested. But if it were not for them, I would not have a life, let alone be a ballerina. After she was featured in the ballet documentary, First Position, Michaela debuted professionally as a guest principal at the Joburg Ballet in South Africa. Afterwards she danced with the Dance Theatre of Harlem professional company for one year before joining the Dutch National Junior Company as a second-year member and apprentice to the main company. Despite the fact that she misses her family in the United States, Michaela will be returning to the Dutch National Ballet’s main company for the 2014-2015 ballet season.

Ballet brings me joy! It is my dream-come-true. It is the way I express my emotions. It helped keep me out of trouble as a kid, and fulfils me as an adult. It is the source of my success. Hope in a Ballet Shoe tells the story of Michaela DePrince. Growing up in war-torn Sierra Leone, she witnesses atrocities that no child ever should. Her father is killed by rebels and her mother dies of famine. Sent to an orphanage, Michaela is mistreated and she sees the brutal murder of her favourite teacher. You are taken on a journey of a young lady from Sierra Leone, where she heard about her father's death and then eventually her mother's. She was sent to live in an orphanage because her uncle didn't want her. For 1, she was a girl and for 2, she has Vitiligo and therefore "defective". While at the orphanage she sees a magazine clipping of a ballerina. From then on, she put it in her mind that that is what she was going to be. She already had the talent for that. Hope in a Ballet Shoe: Orphaned by War, Saved by Ballet: An Extraordinary True Story Hope in a Ballet Shoe Book Review Found Online

This book was really really cool! If you've seen First Position and became interested in Michaela's story you should definitely read this book. Today, Michaela is an international ballet star, dancing for The Dutch National Ballet at the age of 19. The horrifying events and devastating losses of Ms. dePrinces’ childhood could easily have left her filled with fear, hate, despair, and the inability to function at all.

The beginning of the book is very sad, as it tells of her life, the poverty, the loss of her parents, abuse from her uncle, and experiences of death that she faced when she lived in Sierra Leone. Expect to shed a whole lot of tears when reading this part of the book. That dream became possible when she and her best friend from the orphanage were adopted by an American couple. One day, the wind blew a magazine cover through the gates of the orphanage and she saw a picture of a ballerina. My only concern about this book is that the horrors of her own childhood make this story of dedication, determination, and devotion unsuitable for young girls to read. Michaela DePrince shot to fame when a ballet documentary featured her. The documentary was called First Position and you can read more about it here.The only slight downside to the book was that it was quite simply written, and although the author used descriptive language, parts of it seemed more suitable for a younger age group. It is a truly inspiring read that I would recommend to anyone over the age of eleven, for an insightful peep into culture, prejudice and ballet! Born into a war-torn county, Sierra Leone, Michaela Mabinty Deprince witnessed atrocities no child should ever have to see. Her journey began with her birth mother and father who loved her dearly. Early on Mabinity was singled out often due to her unique appearance, she had spots that she later learned was a skin condition called vitiligo. This led her to be subject to hateful names but her birth parents thought she was beautiful and loved her regardless. Her father exposed her from a young age to the reading and the power of knowledge to which his brother (her uncle) critiqued, claiming no daughter should be taught to read as their only fate is to become a housewife. Moreover, Mabinity’s intellectual ability blossomed beyond her years, she was a very bright child. It's very upsetting, there are not a lot of dark, dark ballerinas. That's why I came to the Dutch National, they are not focusing on what colour my skin is...it's upsetting, you'd think that in the US it would be more colourful in the dance world." As the war continued and chaos spread, at one stage, Mabinty witnessed the murder of a beloved teacher.

Later, a tragedy occurred leaving Mabinity and her mother under her Uncles abusive control. Life moving forward became a horror with her mother later falling to death also. Mabinity’s uncle then declared there was no use for her as she was a spotty girl who no one would ever offer a good bride price for she was sent to live in an orphanage. Trigger warnings: war, death of a parent, violence, graphic death, gore, death of a sibling, grief, racism, mentions of HIV. Here is a preview of the book taking flight, which is the other book title about her life, very similar to Hope in a Ballet Shoe. The orphanage was a place of sorrow with the children making their own fun with the scraps they had. However, amongst the darkness, Mabinity found her love for dance there and a young girl who became her best friend and would be for years to come. A day came when the girls were all adopted by American families, rescued from the disguised day-to-day trauma in the orphanage. It was this rescue and ignited Michaela Deprince’s dreams and the rest was history.

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Together they poured their time, energy, and life savings into helping my dream come true. They gave me encouragement and emotional support through the difficult years of training. They did this when I was only four-years-old, and they are still the steady source of my emotional support at age 20 But this? I was HOOKED from the first chapter and I flew through it. Michaela's story was utterly compelling and this is written in a very engaging way with a writing style and tone that very much fits the fact that she was still a teenager when she and her mother wrote this. Now about the book as a whole, the style of writing is very simplistic with baby Michaela being the narrator. It is worth noticing though how the writing develops and becomes more complex as the book progresses and Michaela becomes a grown up. I am not here to judge the author's writing skills. This is not her job anyway; her job is to tell stories through her body and not through her words.

Fortunately, this is an incredibly strong and determined child who moves through girlhood into womanhood with fierceness and grace. Elaine and Charles DePrince had experienced enormous losses themselves, with the deaths of two of their haemophiliac sons before Michaela was born. Another son died while she was a young girl, and the couple adopted nine children altogether.Uncle Sulaiman, a humble but brave night watchman, who barely knew me, risked his own life and said, “Please do not kill her, she is just a poor orphan pikin,” as he lifted me out of the hands of a band of debils (rebels).