This is a fun story about a main character who loves to dance but happens to be a boy. As a society, there tend to be "acceptable" activities for boys and girls to be involved in. Thankfully, these "acceptable" activities are evolving to be more inclusive. I think of strong women playing professional basketball , female scientists, boys in the marching band's flag corp, and males as "stay-at-home-Dads. Roles are changing, but our perceptions don't unless we accept the change. In this story, Tucker's male classmates are mean to him and make fun of him constantly while his girl classmates don't really notice. There is also an interesting family dynamic as Tucker is not part of a "normal nuclear family." He has a sister and single mother with an uncle that comes over once a week to eat dinner. The uncle echoes the thoughts of the boys in the schoolyard with comments about Tucker playing football instead of ballet. I liked that Tucker is unapologetic about his love for dancing and he keeps doing it even though it makes life a bit more complicated.
Even though the football players in this book make fun of ballet at first, I know that many high school football stars take ballet to improve movement and agility on the field. Interesting how such a "girlie" activity can help with football. (An aside, ballet dancers are very strong! Imagine lifting someone over your head or dancing on the tips of your toes across a stage!) We see the classmates demonstrate acceptance of Tucker's dancing by joining the ballet class to learn his sweet moves.
The author also has a website with interactive things to read and do at: http://www.theonlyboyinballetclass.com/
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