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Type of bind: Hardcover
EAN num: 9780812627428
ISBN number: 0812627423
Label: Cricket Books
Manufacturer: Cricket Books
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 192
Printing Date: February 22, 2006
Publishing house: Cricket Books
Age index: Ages 9-12
Sale Popularity Level: 1659502
Studio: Cricket Books
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Product Description:
A year ago, Tanya Zeshonski was living in Wisconsin, interning at the public television station, and eating Polish food on the holidays. Then her mother divorced her father, reclaimed her maiden name of MacDonald, and moved to North Carolina to submerge them all in their Scottish heritage. So now, at 15, Tanya is the oldest beginning student at the Flora MacDonald School of Highland Dance. Instead of pursuing her dream of being a filmmaker, she’s learning the Highland Fling, one of the national dances of Scotland. Learning it means a lot to her mother, though, so Tanya resigns herself to practicing for the biggest event of the summer, the Cross Creek Highland Games. At the games, Tanya must face not only the intricacies of the dance, but the complications brought on by a handsome bagpiper named Miguel, a ghostly ancestor, and the arrival of her father. Tanya’s sharp, funny voice rings true as she describes the delicate steps of the dance and the beginning of her new life.
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Rated by buyers -
They say not to judge a book by a cover, and maybe in a perfect world such a thing could occur. Yet nine times out of ten a book cover is a dead giveaway of the material hidden inside. And librarians, booksellers, and readers all know this. Pity then the smartly written book nestled within garish packaging. Or, in the case of Kathleen Ernst's overlooked, "Highland Fling", maybe the word "dowdy" would be more apropos. Now I've been reading many many children's books this year. I don't have time to read all of them, though, and usually if a book doesn't look too enticing I'll settle for a chapter or two and leave it at that. So the only reason I was even able to read "Highland Fling" was a) I used to dance the highland fling myself as a child and b) I removed the cover. Once I got into it I found, to my very great delight, a book worthy of not just interest but downright applause! This is a truly interesting title. Now maybe I'm just saying that since I'm of Scottish descent and because I can still deliver a mean sword dance if called upon to do so, but I doubt it. Though the book will not grab the casual shopper, those brave enough to give it a go by looking beyond the packaging will be rewarded with a truly enjoyable story of a girl, her family, and a campground full of kilt-crazy Scots.
Have your parents ever dragged you to something you didn't want to go to? Well, for fifteen-year-old Tanya, that kind of thing has happened more than once. First her mom drags both of her daughters, including Tanya's sister Nan, from the Midwest to North Carolina. Now she's being dragged to yet another Highland Festival celebrating the family's Scottish heritage. Ever since her parents divorced, Tanya's mom has plunged wholeheartedly into this new obsession and this is one teenager who's anything but willing. Sure, she takes Highland dancing lessons, but she screws up in her very first performance while competing in a sword dance event. The only thing Tanya really loves to do is create documentary films, and now she's decided to use this inescapable Festival week-end to do a tell-all on the dishonesty behind these so-called "Scottish" traditions. What Tanya doesn't count on is the friendship of a Puerto Rican bagpiper, a connection to her own genetic history (which reveals itself in unpleasant ways), and a surprise visit from her father. The week-end may not be very long, but it's certainly going to be eventful.
I'm sure lots of books written like "Highland Fling" could have ended with the heroine falling in love with her heritage by the story's end and begging to be included in future Highland Games. Ernst is smart enough to instead inject her story with a little reality, and that's awfully refreshing. Maybe Tanya hasn't reached a perfect understanding with her father and her mother's new obsession, but at least she isn't overflowing with spite anymore. It's a start. I also liked that this wasn't one of those stories where a kid just isn't giving something, like dancing, a chance and by the story's end she finds she has actually loved it all along. Tanya doesn't like Scottish dancing, bagpipes, or obsessed Scotland freaks and that does NOT change by the end of the story. What she does and does not like is her business and it's up to her parents and her sister to accept that. Instead, it's her view of her own home life that changes.
What Ernst does well is balance Tanya's family situation with her professional one. Equal attention is paid to the girl's up-and-down relationship with being Scottish alongside her up-and-down relationship with her parents. Less successful is a bizarre hating-someone-from-a-rival-clan-is-in-your-genes argument added to the narrative for a bit of spice. It's kind of fun to watch Tanya instantly hate and freak out over her "genetic history", and it will certainly give the readers of the book something to chew on. Still, sometimes it goes just a touch too far. For example, there's a stand up and cheer moment near the end of the book that's so unbelievable it almost throws the entire book out of whack. Anytime you see the words "Music" and "Mist" used as individual sentences, run. Also, sometimes Ms. Ernst keeps Tanya from acting on her instincts by filling her to the gills with guilt over how it would make her mother feel. Knowing the details of the divorce, this isn't surprising. I was a little less inclined, however, to believe that she would feel unable to stomach the image of her dance teacher, "lying awake at night" thinking she'd failed her. I mean, if you really hate something, your last concern is going to be the teacher with dozens of other students.
On the plus side, I greatly enjoyed Tanya's attempts to create a special undercover report of the seamy underbelly of the Scottish Highland Games. Ernst brings up some excellent points on what makes a good documentary (which is less surprising when you discover ... Read More
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