Katrinka, a young peasant whose parents have been exiled to Siberia, uses dance as a way to win the favor of the St. Petersburg public and of the Czar, in order to gain her heart's desire: clemency and freedom for her family.
Revisiting a book I read when I was about 12 or 13. It moved me then--it moves me still. I remembered the title and the author's name 50 years afterwards and when I picked it up from the library it was the same edition I had in my hand the first time. An odd experience. Recommended for young people.