Come a Stranger

Tillerman Cycle #5

by Cynthia Voigt

A dashed dream leads to a rash decision in the fifth installment of Cynthia Voigt’s Tillerman cycle.

Mina Smiths lives to dance, so her scholarship to ballet camp seems like a dream come true. She doesn’t even mind being the only black girl in the troupe—that is, until she is told she’ll never be a classical dancer. It’s then that Mina begins to face some difficult truths about race and identity and transfers her passion for dance to Tamer Shipp, the summer minister for her church. The problem is, he’s a grown man with a family, but she can’t stop wishing for more to their friendship than simply pastor and parishioner.

Cynthia Voigt’s incomparable mastery of character and community shines forth in this stirring novel from her acclaimed Tillerman cycle.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Middle Grade, Teen, Childrens, Coming Of Age, Realistic Fiction

254 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Cynthia Voigt is an American author of books for young adults dealing with various topics such as adventure, mystery, racism and child abuse.


Awards:
Angus and Sadie: the Sequoyah Book Award (given by readers in Oklahoma), 2008
The Katahdin Award, for lifetime achievement, 2003
The Anne V. Zarrow Award, for lifetime achievement, 2003
The Margaret Edwards Award, for a body of work, 1995
Jackaroo: Rattenfanger-Literatur Preis (ratcatcher prize, awarded by the town of Hamlin in Germany), 1990
Izzy, Willy-Nilly: the Young Reader Award (California), 1990
The Runner: Deutscher Jungenliteraturpreis (German young people's literature prize), 1988
Zilverengriffel (Silver Pen, a Dutch prize), 1988
Come a Stranger: the Judy Lopez Medal (given by readers in California), 1987
A Solitary Blue: a Newbery Honor Book, 1984
The Callender Papers: The Edgar (given by the Mystery Writers of America), 1984
Dicey's Song: the Newbery Medal, 1983

Reviews

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wonderful story, beautifully written and seamlessly tied into the other books that Cynthia Voight has written in this series. It is hard to see where it is going at first, but such a wonderful character study of an exceptional young woman and her family. Told from yet another perspective as only Cynthia Voight can do, filled with people the other stories have introduced.

[Sam (Hissing Potatoes) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. This book revolves around the experience of being black and is written by a white woman. I, a white reader, don't really know how to evaluate that incongruence aside from being skeptical.

I found Mina's teenage obsession with an adult man uncomfortable, especially when her mother validates it by calling it true love (???).

Like the previous book in the series, The Runner, the general progression lacked focus among a bunch of themes that were only explored on a surface level. It didn't help that there were constant phrasings like "I didn't understand, but I did" and "She felt uncomfortable, but at the same time she didn't." It was like those wishy-washy contradictory statements took the place of actually working through complex themes. The progression that did occur plot or character -wise seemed to happen suddenly, not always making full sense. Much of the dialogue progression seemed not to follow any particular logic either.

This book has a heavy Christian lens, which may be appealing to some readers but wasn't for me.

[Elsa K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am going to be sad when the Tillerman cycle is done. Mina is such a fun character and I loved getting to know her and her family more. I don't know what those of African American background would think, but I remember reading this as a girl and wanting to do anything I could to fight racial inequality. One of the things I love about quality literature-good themes really shape your character and beliefs. I also love that not much happens in these books in way of action, but I still find them page turners. I love the depth of character development.

I seriously did not remember Tamer Shipp being in this! Interesting to see the few bits that stuck with me. It was a pleasant surprise. My one frustration was that I didn't like seeing that Mina had ulterior motives for befriending Dicey! I also am curious to see if anything happens with Dexter, who was added in the last few pages.

[Jenny Leiva · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been my favorite book of the Tillerman Cycle so far. I was hooked from the beginning when Mina went to ballet camp (and it didn’t hurt that they danced to my favorite composer, Bartok). I’m not even really sure why I liked this book so much. I mean, obviously, Mina is a great character, and I loved learning more about her. Maybe I surprised myself with how interested I was in the race issues and Mina’s view on them. I was looking forward to the point when I knew the Tillermans came into the story, but I didn’t find the story lacking at all before that point.

[oliviasbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am so glad I picked it up again after deciding to let it go around page 60 (Somehow the beginning of Mina Smiths' story about a twelve-years-old, black girl during the 70s, who is desperately trying to start a ballet dancer's career in an all-white summer camp, breezed past all my emotional buttons without even brushing them lightly). And I am pretty dazed about the fact that it kept me up reading last night until my eyes protested. It's not as wonderful as Homecoming or Dicey's Song, but it's still peculiarly impressive and moving. In fact, the dancing thing quickly became just a part of Mina's past.

Cynthia Voigt is one of those very special storytellers whose heroines are at the same time familiar and strange. I already noticed that, when I first read On Fortune's Wheel (I grabbed the German translation from a bargain bin at the train station and directly fell under its spell), but since I was disappointed by Jackaroo and a bit ambivalent about Elske, it took a long time for me to go out and buy her first Tillerman book and even longer to buy the second and third. Silly me.

And now I am wondering again if the last two volumes and the spin-off about Dicey's uncle Bullet are up my alley or not. What's that irrational notion that always makes me hesitate in spite of all those wonderfully pleasant surprises?

[Sarah King · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never been more annoyed at the blurb on the back of a book. This one reads “to her, a scholarship to ballet camp seems like a dream come true. She doesn’t mind being the only black girl in the troupe — that is until she learns she’ll never be a classical dancer. It’s then that Mina begins to face her feelings about race and identity, and as she does, she transfers her passion for dance to Tamer Shipp, the summer minister for her church. Mina knows that he’s too old for her — he’s a grown man with a family — but she sees more to their friendship than simply a bond between pastor and parishioner”. It makes this beautiful, moving, powerful story of a young Black girl embracing her Blackness and her power sound like some sleazy Thorn Birds romance, and it does the whole story a disservice. This is a book that deals head on with the racism and sexism faced by a Black girl growing up in a white world. She doesn’t “learn she’ll never be a classical dancer”, she’s thrown out of ballet camp when her Black body doesn’t match the white ideal of a ballerina. She doesn’t “transfer her passion for dance to Tamer Shipp”, she has a true friendship with a Black man who helps her navigate the realities of being Black. Absolutely she has a crush on him, but not in a naive pining after an older man way, but in a way that acknowledges how important he is to her in her coming of age. Mina Smiths is t-rou-ble, by her own account and this is such a poignant story of a woman accepting her own self, her own power, and her own identity. I absolutely loved it and I already can’t wait to read it again.

[Katie M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Books by white authors about characters of color - particularly African Americans - are... well, it's complicated. But it was the 90s, and I loved this book, and Cynthia Voigt is a fantastic writer, so I guess at least there's that. She phones it in a little bit when going through the scenes (from Mina's perspective) that are included in other books, but that doesn't end up being a fatal flaw. All the Tillerman novels are pretty excellent really; I used to love (um. Clearly still do.) going back to Crisfield with Dicey and Mina and Jeff.

[Vannessa Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mina learned about racism through experience. The experience wasn’t all bad because it helped her to see life as it really existed and through that experience, Mina was able to see people for whom and what they were, especially the adults. And at the same time, she learned a lot about herself; she became self-aware. Come a Stranger was well written and left nothing to the imagination.

I’d never heard of author Cynthia Voigt before Come A Stranger and am looking forward to reading more of her books.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel starts slow. I really enjoyed how it tied into the other Tillerman cycle novels. The topic of race was central to the story and the ideas were thought-provoking. I didn’t like that Mina, the main teen character, was in love with a married adult man. There were Christian themes, though liberal thought is present in the younger generation, which is representative of how the culture was changing at this time. Reading an older novel you can see the small changes that began to happen and that ultimately led to today’s post-Christian culture.

[Hannah]

I put off finishing this book for a few extra days because I was enjoying it a good bit. I loved getting Mina's story and point of view on things. It really connected all the other books right in with this one.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a little leary of this book. While I enjoyed it, ultimately this is a book by a white woman and it's ultimately about What It's Like To Be Black, and while it seems to me to make some good points and I enjoyed it as a teen and have continued to enjoy it as an adult, I'm white as well, so how should I know?

This book follows Mina Smiths, a black girl and aspiring dancer who lives in a mostly black community in rural Maryland. (I finally figured out the timeline for the book by looking at the topics discussed in Mina's seventh-grade current events class, which all took place in 1976. Working backwards, Mina's first summer at camp is the summer of 1975. Before I thought the book took place a little later based on a passage where Mina's mother says Mina was "just a baby" when Dr. King was shot, but if Mina was 12 in 1976 she would have been 4 in 1968, so maybe her mother was speaking loosely and meant that Mina was a young child rather than an actual infant.)

It can be roughly divided into four acts:
1. Mina, aged 11 and having just finished the fifth grade, attends an exclusive dance camp in Connecticut as a scholarship student. She loves her time there, learns a lot, and enjoys the company of the other dancers. I note that Mina at this point in the book is portrayed as blissfully race-blind. She does not see the way in which her race will impact others' views of her. In fact, her race is not explicitly mentioned in the text until the very end of this section, when her father comes to get her from camp and asks if she was the only black girl there. She responds yes and he asks her why he thinks this is. Her answer is "I was the only one good enough, I guess." Oh, Mina.
2. The next summer Mina returns to camp. She finds herself struggling to keep up, not fitting in so well with her friends from the previous year, and ultimately the teacher of her section tells her that she isn't doing well because of puberty, that 'your people mature earlier', that there isn't much of a place for black dancers, and various other things about how they should have had more than one black dancer at camp if they 'had to have any'. The teacher pushes Mina until she agrees to leave camp.
3. Shattered, Mina returns home. She meets the summer minister, Tamer Shipp. (He is filling in for Mina's minister father, so the two families are closely linked.) Over the course of this summer and the next, Mina becomes closer to Mr. Shipp and his family and they have a lot of deep conversations about life. Ultimately she states herself to be in love with him, though nothing aside from friendship happens between the two and neither behaves in any inappropriate ways. The plot of a twelve-year-old girl being interested in an older, married man could go in a horribly creepy direction, but thankfully there is nothing of the sort in this book. One of the things that Mr. Shipp tells Mina about is a white boy named Samuel "Bullet" Tillerman, who he used to compete with on the track team in high school. Bullet drove him to compete but also angered him with his racism. Mr. Shipp was very sad when Bullet was killed in Vietnam and he is still upset by this.
4. Mina starts eighth grade at the regional high school, where the racial mix is more white than what she is used to. She encounters a Dicey Tillerman and is determined to know her better. Dicey turns out to be the daughter of Bullet's sister, and she and her siblings live with their grandmother. This section of the book overlaps with the book Dicey's Song, which is from Dicey's perspective. Dicey and Mina become friends. At the end of this section Mr. Shipp comes back to town for one last goodbye, as he's taken another job, and Mina brings Dicey and her grandmother and siblings to meet him.

The last chapter, more of an epilogue, is two years later, and features Mina and Dicey attending the graduation of Dicey's boyfriend, Jeff, and Mina makes the acquaintance of Jeff's friend Dexter. Dexter will appear as Mina's love interest in a later book. What strikes me in this section is that it shows the progression of Mina's racial awareness. She goes from not even really seeing race at the beginning, to having a very acute awareness of prejudices and how white people will see her and concern that white people will automatically be prejudiced and how this has all impacted her view of white people and how each black person she meets will have a different nuanced understanding of these same issues.

Throughout the book as well, we see Mina's parents' attempts to prepare her for what she will face. Mina doesn't totally understand what her parents are trying to communicate, and as a result the reader doesn't either. But I think what they are trying to communicate is their awareness that while Mina is an unstoppable force of nature, she is going to get a certain level of crap for being "uppity", and she needs to be prepared for that.

As far as I can tell, this is a good treatment of the issues, but like I said, I'm white as well, with no more than an average understanding of black people's views of race relations, so I don't think my opinion is worth all that much.

[Sky · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book "Come a Stranger" by Cynthia Voigt is most likely my favorite book in The Tillerman Cycle so far. The story met my expectations and the main character Mina, was my favorite character in the second book (Dicey's Song), so that made me even more excited to read this book! The character development in this story was also amazing. At first, Mina was a lovestruck pre-teen who loved ballet and wanted to become a professional dancer. However, she then realizes that due to the color of her skin, people had different opinions and ideas about her because of stereotyping and racism. This story really put into perspective what it was like living in America as a person of color in the 80s. It made me think about my own history and background.

[Kathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very meandering and introspective, not the same kind of “what next?” plot Homecoming and Dicey’s Song had, but Mina is an interesting and likable character to follow.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read as a standalone book, paints a compelling picture of a preteen black girl in small town Maryland in 1980. The first part about her ballet camp experience is great storytelling. I was worried about where the story was going after that, when she has a serious crush on an adult married man but the story stays entirely in safe territory. Mina’s inner voice and growing self awareness is delightful. Anyone would want to join her family the way she describes it. As a reader, watching her experience race relations first hand is compelling. She’s so exuberant and her flame is undiminished. Would that all the world could be like Mina’s world!

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a warm, contemplative, and moving novel. Like most of the other books in the "Tillerman series" (which starts with the excellent Homecoming, this book could stand on its own easily, but gains even more depth and emotional resonance when one has read the previous novels in the cycle.

This book centers on Mina Smiths, who readers of Dicey's Song will remember as the young black woman who decides she's going to be Dicey's friend, come hell or high water. It fleshes out Mina's family and gives her a background that is well worth reading about.

When Mina goes to dance camp and realizes that she is the only black girl there, she begins to question her identity and her place in the world. Voigt follows her through several years as she grows into a strong, confident, and questioning young woman with the help of friends like Tamer Shipp (the visiting summer preacher) and eventually Dicey and her family. The book raises the issues of what it means to be black and a black woman very forthrightly, but not in a way that feels overly pedagogical; there are many thoughtful conversations that explore these issues, but always in a way that seems natural rather than preachy.

Despite this being one of those books where "nothing really happens" in terms of action, I found myself so sucked into Mina's world that I had trouble putting the book down, even when company came over.

The only real critique I have of it is that Voigt does not make it very clear what time period the book is set in. It was published in 1986, but since the majority of the events take place prior to the events in Homecoming (which came out in 1981), one can place it somewhere in the late 70's, which makes sense. It just struck me that many readers, especially those who have not read Voigt's other works, might not be able to pick up on these cues, and it feels like a bit of a failing on Voigt's part not to make it a little more clear.

[Reyna Ruiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mina Smith is a young African American girl that realizes that racism is brought up against her due to the color of her skin. She loves dancing and is extremely excited when she got into a ballet camp with a scholarship. Her best friend unfortunately didn’t get in it because her parents could not afford it. Mina goes to the camp and writes back to her family and best friend. She always tries to do her best at dancing and is told plenty of times to try harder. I noticed throughout the book that Mina’s dance teacher doesn’t like her and treats her differently because of her skin color.
Mina was lucky to go to that camp which was taught by one of the best dancers only because she had a scholarship but the girls rest of the girls were white and their parents could afford to send them every summer. Mina’s teacher would say she needed more practice which would make Mina think she wasn't as good as she thought she was. Close to the end of the book Mina is told that she shouldn't dance at all. Mina was just a kid so I couldn't imagine how she must of felt when she is told this and is far away from home. Her friends are one of the few people that helped her get through it because they are white and they were still friends with Mina. They had little group talks in the dorm which made Mina feel comfortable. This made Mina believe that she could dance and commit to what has always been her dream.

I really liked this book because it’s about a very strong girl who loves dancing and doesn’t care about what people say about her skin color. She doesn't let anyone bring her down. This book really shows how you shouldn’t judge people by their skin color. You have to treat others the way you want to be treated. It’s a very interesting book and I recommend it to anyone who loves dancing and wouldn't give up at it for anything.

[Gabby · Rating 1 out of 5]

The main charachter Mina is a young girl that realizes that racisim is brought up against her due to the color of her skin. Shes so passionate with dancing and is extremley exited when she got into a dance camp with a scolarship. Her bestfriend unfortunately did not did not get in becuse her parents could not afford it. Mina goes to the camp and writes back to her family and friend. She tries her best at dancing and is told repeatedly to try harder. Midway through the book i understood that Mina`s dance teacher does not like her and treats her differently due to her skin color.
i took to understanding that Mina was lucky to go to dance camp which was taught by one of the best dancers only because she had a scholarship but the girls rest of the girls were white and their parents could afford to send them every summer. I believe Mina`s teacher didnt realy show any strange behavior towards Mina until the end. Mina`s teacher would say she needed more practice which would just make Mina think she wasn`t as good as she thought she was. Near the end Mina is told that she shouldnt dance at all. Mina was just a kid so i couldnt imagine how she must of felt when she is told this and is far away from home. I think her friends are one of the few people that helped her get through it because they are white and they were still friends with Mina and had little group talks in the dorm which made Mina feel conftorable. This made Mina believe that she could dance and comit to what has always been her dream.

[Dhrish · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've picked up the books from the Tillerman Cycle on-and-off for the last ten years. I tend to adore Voigt's writing because there is just something so comforting about it. However, this book just didn't do it for me.

Personally, I thought, it was ahead of its time especially with regards to commentary on social issues and racism, it still read as a White Woman writing about being Black.

I am not Black therefore I can't speak on all the experiences that come with living as a Black person, especially in the United States. However, one moment that did come through was how Mina has to deal with learning how not being white affects her and her opportunities. I was pleasantly surprised by how realistically those were written.

A weird nit-picky point but Tamer Shipp makes a reference to admiring/loving Bullet. I don't know if I was supposed to read this as just admiration or queer subtext. It was just one of the many points in this book that made me question whether I was reading too deeply or lacking understanding.

That being said I really did want to love this book but couldn't. Though I will say give it a read if you've liked the rest of the series so far.

[Megan Uy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the character of Mina Smiths. “Come A Stranger” was one of my favorites in this series when I was growing up. Now, with age and much more education, I can recognize both how problematic it is for a white author to write a black character as well as how progressive it was for the time. To Cynthia Voigt’s credit, she didn’t write a book to make white people comfortable—which is probably the best you can say about a YA novel from the 90s by a white author addressing race.

It’s amazing how many of the scenes stayed with me over the years. Mina cooking with her mother, the differences between Mina’s two experiences of ballet camp, Mina and Tamer Shipp talking about Bullet, Sammy Tillerman meeting Mina’s mother (boy, does that hit differently now that I’m a mother myself! Maybe I cried when I was a kid, but I _definitely_ cried now) and Mina’s confusion over Tamer’s attention on Abigail Tillerman and not Sammy (what fantastic way to portray the still-concrete, black-and-white thinking of a middle school kid!).

[Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mina loves to dance and is excited when she is accepted to a special dance camp. Little does she realize the exacting long-term consequences of pursuing her passion. She is even less prepared when she realizes what passion really is.

This book was very difficult for me to read. I experienced very similar circumstances to Mina's -- of realizing what racism, tokenism, and having your dreams crash into reality feels like. I cried through much of this and admire Voigt for her willingness to explore such volatile issues.

There are so many interrelated and complicating issues in this novel. As a result, it is a true reflection of the spider web of emotions and experiences teens such as Mina had -- and may still be having.

[Jeannette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another one in the Tillerman series, but very disappointing. This one wasn't compelling enough on its own and Mina just didn't seem real enough. I lost interest early on but kept on reading because I was hoping things would pick up.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aaaah! These books are sooo good! I love how each book adds more layers to the story and the family. I teared up at the end of this one. I just know when I get to the end of these, I'm going to wish there were more. I love it when I wish that characters I read about in books were real.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this may be my next favorite, after Dicey's Song, of the Tillerman series.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books by Cynthia Voigt, along with Izzy Willy Nilly. Mina was my favorite character and I loved how the Tillerman family intertwined with her coming of age story.

[Melusine Parry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hate ballet stories but this one isn't about dancing around in silly tutus, it's about body changes, adolescence and race. Beautiful.

[Ashlie aka The Cheerbrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm enjoying my revisit to The Tillerman Cycle books, which were a favorite when I was a youth/teen. Though categorized as children's books, they tackle adult themes with care and nuance that gives them a timeless quality. This book is the 5th in the 7 book series. Though the series is centered on the Tillerman family with teenaged Dicey as our protagonist, in this installment we get a deep dive into the life of Dicey's best friend, Nina.

We first met Mina in "Dicey's Song," book two, when she wears down Dicey into being her friend. Mina is outspoken and confident; she is intrigued by Dicey's attitude and intelligence, and her complete disregard for what other people think about her. Dicey starts out resistant to Mina's overtures, moving toward reluctant and finally accepting, and a friendship is forged. None of the Tillerman's come by friends easily, but once they open up, they make a lasting impression and are loyal to the core. This brings us back to this book.

Tamer Shipp is Mina's adult crush, a traveling preacher, and she spends the summer helping his family while nursing her unrealistic first love. She also is dealing with an abrupt entry into adulthood as she begins to understand what her blackness means both to her opportunities, and to the world at large. We met Tamer in the 4th book  "The Runner" where he befriends a reluctant Bullet as Bullet was forced by their track coach into helping Tamer learn how to run cross country in high school. And thus, in this book, we see how the Tillerman family's reluctance to rely on others has echoes across time.

My upbringing was pretty racially homogenous as most of the people in my community and circle were also white and I am certain that these books gave me valuable exposure to others' perspectives and voices. I would recommend this series to an adult as a primer for children and would recommend this book to anyone looking for something for a kiddo to give them a look at real-world topics that still resonate today. Though a bit dated, the themes are still impactful.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

At times I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this book as much as previous Tillerman books because I wasn’t sure if the author could pull it off at the same level, but there were so many knock-out excellent scenes that overall it was a winner.

Also: it’s ok to dance because you love how it feels, or you think it’s fun; dance shouldn’t be a choice between professional level or nothing (particularly when it’s 1970s racist white people deciding).

The not-as-good:
Often the racial issues are handled well and written with dexterity, but sometimes they seemed wincingly off to me.

I was surprised that Mina at thirteen has a crush on a grown up married man (or is said to be in love with him) and that this is treated as real love by Mina’s Mom. Huh? The Mom asks Mina to try to teach the man’s wife to be a better companion to him. What?! (Mina is shown to the reader as smarter and a better housekeeper than the wife, but still, she’s thirteen and not married!)

The good:
There is a great mix of believable children in this book, from immature to mature, from stubborn to willing, from patient to tempered, from kids who like younger kids to kids who can’t be bothered, kids doing chores as was more typical in the 1970s, kids enjoying their free time in all sorts of ways… There are also many scenes that subtly celebrate cozy family time, which I really appreciated.

A couple of scenes that referenced loss really resonated. Each of these referenced a character we had met earlier in the series, and they had me crying with shared grief. Especially the scene in which Sammy meets Mina’s Mom was exceptionally well done; I saw it and I felt it. If you have ever experienced a great loss, you will understand this scene deeply.

The author was more successful in this book at giving a new side to scenes that had first appeared in earlier books (compared with A Solitary Blue). There were several repeat episodes that we saw from a new perspective and a new interpretation from different viewpoints in this book.

[JoAnne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite in the Tillerman Cycle, but it was worth reading for the closure that was given to characters who had suffered in past books, especially coming right after "The Runner". Both books seems like the flip side of the same coin. There are so many differences between characters and their personalities, the outcome of their actions, yet both main characters ("Bullet" Tillerman and Mina Smiths) grew up in the same town, faced hardships growing up, dealt with racism in some manner (though one was white, the other black, so we read it from different sides). It didn't matter that one was from a later generation, was more likable than the other, or (arguably) a better human being; both characters learned and grew (of course, following different paths), and came to some sort of conclusion / peace with life, and in the end of the second story, met up (sort of) in a satisfying way. My only gripe with "Come a Stranger" is the first half of the story, and I believe that's more personal preference rather than poor story telling. I was just not as interested as I could be to read about ballet camp full of prima donnas, but once that was left behind (literally and figuratively and with some amount of drama), it was good reading.

[Jennifer]

Over the break , I read come a stranger by Cynthia Voigt and I liked it. I decided to read this book because it talks about a girl who wants to dance and wants to make her dream come true . I liked this book because she got a scholarship to ballet camp and she likes a dream come true . This book was great because a girl named Mina got a scholarship to go to a dance camp. Her parents didn't want her to go but nobody could stop her to make her dream come true. This book could be better if they would talk about why she likes to dance and how she got the scholarship. They could bite into more details . I think people who like to dance and like dreams come true should read this book because Mina liked to dance and dance camp liked dreams come true for her.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book as a teen, and I wanted to see if it held up (and if I’d want to give it to my daughter to read). There were things I really liked, and some things that made me uncomfortable. Mina has a serious crush on an older, married man. And before she’s thirteen, the narration makes mention of playing spin the bottle and casual kissing at parties. I did love how smart Mina is, and I love how she thinks through things. I do love the parts where she is thinking through history and race. I can see why, as a young white teen, I wasn’t as interested in those parts. But I can also see how it set me up for some great reading and thinking later on. I will leave the book on my shelves, but I may wait until my daughters are a little older to pass it along to them.