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Twin Ambitions #2

by Simon Brading

Max and Emily Cooper are twins who fall in love with ballet from the first lesson that they take as 6 year-olds.

In Barcelona they have to start all over again - a new school, new students to make friends with and a new ballet school with a new teacher to learn from. Despite the tragic accident that killed their parents and forced them to leave London to live with their Aunt Kimberley and Cousin Núria it is an exciting time.
However, things don't turn out anything like the way they want them to...

Book 2 of the "Twin Ambitions" series

71 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 5, 2018

About the author

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From a very young age, Simon Brading was in no doubt that he wanted to be a writer. Life got in the way a bit, though, and it was thirty years before he sat down and put pen to paper.
Less than a decade later he has more than twenty books published in various genres of fiction (sci-fi, steampunk, time travel, ballet...) and has no intention of being slowed down by anything except his son's demands on his time.

Reviews

[Miranda Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Between the loss of their parents, Aunt Kimberly's complete denial of their favorite activity (ballet) and the language barrier at their new school...it's shaping up to be another awful semester for twins Max and Emily.

"The teacher spoke so rappidly that they had absolutely no hope of even understanding, let alone making notes..."

Max and Emily now have to navigate around the school bully, Marta, and her gang of equally terrible friends.

Marta is used to ruling the roost and when the twins show her up at the local ballet school, things don't exactly turn out well.

"Being a boy who did ballet meant that he had been an easy target for the more close-minded type of bully."

But at least they have each other and their cousin, Núria, to make life bearable. Together, the children weather their challenges with pluck, courage and a bit of sass.

"I'm not bothered in the slightest. For a start, the insult wasn't exactly very original, and also, it hurts a lot less when I don't understand what they are saying!"

I was was a little disappointed to see that Aunt Kimberly is still so one-dimensionally evil. For example, she says:

"When they get over this childish obsession with ballet and they get a proper job they'll thank me for forcing them to get a decent education. It's what their parents would have wanted."

However, Max and Emily's parents made it abundantly clear that they encouraged and desired their children to dance. They even specifically mentioned that in their last will and testament. In the face of such hard facts, it's a little difficult to see where Aunt Kimberly is coming from.

In addition, the twins didn't play the dead parent card. When Marta and her bullies gang up on the twins, I fully expected them to (at least once) to use the "because our parents are dead" as a comeback. I would have loved to see the look on Marta's face when they pulled that one.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one - watching Max and Emily grow up made my heart all warm and fuzzy.

I adore how Brading includes Max's love for dancing without throwing in the usual "boys don't dance" bullying trope. It's about time that we have a boy who loves ballet that doesn't suffer from emasculating insults from other characters.

Also, hats off for including Núria, who is wheelchair bound. I've read so many books where the focus is entirely about how awful it is to be a wheelchair-kid but not in Twin Ambitions. Núria is depicted as a normal kid. Sure she has difficulties with stairs, and she has therapy but she is shown as a real person not as a disability.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed - I am really rooting for a third book!

With many, many thanks to the author for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

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[Amy Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again the second book in this series was a joy to read! I absolutely love following the twins as they struggle and blossom as characters. If you have a passion for ballet it never leaves you, but always stays in your heart and spirit. My only reason for four stars is it was too short! I desperately want to read more and follow the kids' careers. I hope Simon has much more in store for them!

Max and Emily are quickly moved to Spain by their miserable Aunt Kimberley. Things get much worse when she announces they will not be dancing in her house but they quickly discover what is behind her nasty attitude. The bright star in their life is their amazingly sweet cousin Núria who does everything she can to encourage the twins. Their new life presents many challenges including attending a school in a foreign language and a bully named Marta.

While this book is written for middle grade, I believe anyone of any age can enjoy this series. Adults should be aware of concepts of death and bullying before letting young children read them but the stories are centered around how the children handle the situations and grow from them.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was as amazing as the first book! I love reading how the twins Max and Emily along with their cousin Nuria do not let their challenges stand in their way. I enjoyed reading how they handle Marta and her friends how are the school bullies, and how they handle the language barrier that they now face. This book really shows boys that its okay to love ballet and want to dance. Losing parents is never easy and yet these 2 face it head on. I can not wait to see if a third book comes out! I don't care that it is more geared to middle school ages I really think this is a book for all ages! Hats off to the great Simon Brading for doing it again!