I love this book. I am going to be telling people to read this book for years to come, I just know it. Winner of #BooksAreMyBag Award for Children’s Fiction 2019, The Middle East Children’s Book Prize 2020 and the Cheshire Children’s Book Award 2020 This 1936 classic remains a touchstone for balletomane children. Orphans Pauline, Petrova and Posy Fossil are adopted by eccentric Great Uncle Matthew; when the money runs out, they take to the stage to pay the bills. I believe the book’s endurance is down to its depictions of adolescence as much as the dance detail. The characters are complicated, enviable, flawed. Pretty Pauline’s temper tantrum is one of the best meltdowns in any literature, and results in one of the most relatable comeuppances. The writing is suffused with a teenage sensuousness: costumier’s fabrics such as organza and taffeta seem to caress the reader’s skin as well as the characters’. PDF / EPUB File Name: No_Ballet_Shoes_in_Syria_-_Catherine_Bruton.pdf, No_Ballet_Shoes_in_Syria_-_Catherine_Bruton.epub

This is going to seem a little obscure, but I was teaching Wharton’s 1920 Pulitzer prize winning classic to my lovely A Level class when I was writing the end of No Ballet Shoes in Syria and it is her beautifully delicately balanced ending that I attempted to emulate. I didn’t want ‘happy ever after’, because that would trivialise the issues I was writing about, but nor did I want the finale to be totally bleak. I wanted an ending that offered hope at the same time as breaking my readers’ hearts. Newland Archer sitting on a bench outside Ellen Olenska’s Paris apartment, not going up, but knowing that the memory of her is enough – it breaks my heart and makes me sob every time. And that was what I wanted to achieve too. I guess you’ll have to read it and decide if I succeed… In terms of the plot and characters, nothing to write home about. It was a fairly generic and simple plot and the ending was a little too neat for my liking, but again, this is likely due to this book being for a middle grade audience. The characters were also not massively fleshed out and many of them (particularly Dotty) sometimes felt like caricatures. Can you tell a story in 5 objects? My idea for Aya’s objects came from my Year 4 primary school teacher, Mr Hornby. At the end of each school day, he would tell the class a story and it was the best bit of the whole day! He would ask us to select five objects, which he would weave into a tale – on the spot! We thought it was so cool! No Ballet Shoes in Syria tells the story of 11 year old Aya who has come to Britain, along with her mother and baby brother, after fleeing the war in Syria. When she stumbles across a local ballet class, the formidable dance teacher, Miss Helena, spots Aya’s remarkable natural talent and believes she has the potential to win a scholarship to the prestigious Royal Northern Ballet School. But at the same time Aya and her family must fight to remain in the UK, to make new home for themselves and to find Aya’s father – separated from the family during the perilous journey from Syria. I really enjoyed reading the Afterword at the end. The author explained there how she grew up addicted to books that made you focus on your dreams, etc, but as she got older she realised the value of books that broaden your mindset. The type of books that encourage empathy towards those who have experienced trials you personally know nothing of. So when she wrote this book, she intended to blend those two themes together.Catherine talks about the inspiration for ‘Following Frankenstein’ and reads from the opening chapter Confessions of a Helicopter Mummy In No Ballet Shoes in Syria I tell the story of 11 year old Aya who has just arrived in Britain with her mum and baby brother, seeking asylum from war in Syria. When Aya stumbles across a local ballet class, the formidable dance teacher Miss Helena spots her exceptional talent and believes Aya has the potential to earn a prestigious ballet scholarship. But at the same time Aya and her family must fight to remain in the country, to make a home for themselves and to find Aya’s father – separated from the rest of the family during the perilous journey from Syria. When Aya stumbles across a local ballet class, the formidable dance teacher spots her exceptional talent and believes that Aya has the potential to earn a prestigious ballet scholarship. A moving story about one of the big issues of our time, told with wonderful clarity, and incredibly touching." - Axel Scheffler, illustrator of The Gruffalo e.issuu.com/embed.html?d=repro_anothertwistinthetale_combined__1_&hideIssuuLogo=true&u=nosycrow Teaching Resources

For her ballet audition, Aya must choreograph a dance, using five objects that hold some special significance or meaning for her. ‘They must show who you are,’ says Miss Helena. ‘Where you come from and where you want to go.’ Object number four will probably signal the climax of your story (the great battle, the big chase scene, the night of the prom, or the grand final of the competition…), whilst object five will help you weave your way to resolution (which doesn’t have to mean a happy ending– just a tying up of ends. Do you win the battle– lose the race – catch the villain – kiss the boy on prom night– and what are the consequences? Where and how does everyone end up as a result?)I write fiction for children and young adults, including ‘No Ballet Shoes in Syria’(Winner of the Books Are My Bag Readers’ Award 2020, The Sheffield Book Award and The Middle East Book Award) , Carnegie nominated ‘We Can Be Heroes’ (now a family feature, starring Alison Steadman and Phil Davies) ‘Another Twist in the Tale’(Winner of the North Somerset Book Award) and the forthcoming ‘Following Frankenstein’. Under my pen name Cate Shearwater, I also write the much loved ‘Somersaults and Dreams’series. With tears running down my face, I held my breath as the story approached a deeply satisfying conclusion. Not all wrongs can be righted, but there is always hope, and above all this story is a hopeful one. Fun-loving, intelligent, sexy journalist and single mum… seeks companionship (ideally), love (possibly), sex (definitely maybe!); laughter (compulsory)…. with like-minded, clever, cute middle-aged single man (no ‘still-married-but-my-wife-doesn’t-get-me’s need apply) Ideally based in the SW… One day, whilst waiting in the interminable queue in the community centre to fill in endless forms she doesn't really understand, Aya hears music and is drawn to the ballet class taking place in another room. When Aya is asked to join the class and audition for ballet school, she begins to believe that a better, more hopeful life might be possible.

Author Guy Bass introduces SCRAP, about one robot who tried to protect the humans on his planet against an army of robots. Now the humans need his... No Ballet Shoes in Syria is a beautiful story of hope, belief and community spirit against the obstacles of ignorance, prejudice and a minefield of rules and regulations. Catherine Bruton creates a wonderful mix of emotions through Aya; her hopes, her frustrations, her sadness, her fears. By carefully unravelling the plight of one family of refugees, we see the reasons for leaving, the dangerous journey, the loss, the difficulties faced (en route and in situ); interleaved with the hopes and wishes of a young girl, the need to belong, the desires to be accepted, the injustice faced. This story takes the reader on an emotional journey. The pureness of Aya's voice is heart-wrenchingly honest and so utterly captivating. Eleven-year-old Aya has arrived in Britain from Syria. She has left her homeland behind, lost her father and is holding the rest of the fragile family together, responsible beyond her years. When she glimpses the dancers in the community centre's ballet class, she longs to dance again - ballet was one of the things she left behind. I feel privileged to have read this beautiful book -one that is destined to become a classic, like the books that inspired it, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and the Sadler's Wells series.In a community centre in a run down area of Manchester where 'Manchester welcomes refugees', 11-year-old Aya sits day after day, hour after hour, to see the case worker who can hopefully help them to claim asylum. Her mother speaks little English and is withdrawn and poorly. Around her is a hotchpotch of similar stories, families split, lives lost, broken English, all desperately wanting to feel safe and have somewhere to call home. Her life in Syria, Aleppo all but a distant memory, at times a recurring nightmare. Aya is new to England - she's only been in Manchester for 3 weeks with her Mumma and her little brother, Moosa. She's come because her homeland, Syria, is currently torn apart by war and it's not safe for her family to live there anymore. No Ballet shoes in Syria is the gripping and thought-provoking story of Aya, an eleven-year-old girl fleeing with her family from the war-torn city of Aleppo. I am very obviously not the target demographic for this book but I read the synopsis on my library app and thought it sounded interesting, and it was short enough for me to get through in a single sitting so 🤷🏾‍♀️ why not!