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Chalet Girls #1
Balancing Acts
Three teenaged girls try to prevent their secrets from interfering with their love lives and their goals as they work at Les Trois, an exclusive Alpine ski resort, over the winter.
- GenresYoung Adult
256 pages, Paperback
First published October 2, 2007
6 people are currently reading
77 people want to read
About the author
Emily Franklin
35 books149 followersGrowing up, Emily Franklin wanted to be “a singing, tap-dancing doctor who writes books.”
Having learned early on that she has little to no dancing ability, she left the tap world behind, studied at Oxford University, and received an undergraduate degree concentrating in writing and neuroscience from Sarah Lawrence College. Though she gave serious thought to a career in medicine, eventually that career followed her dancing dreams.
After extensive travel, some “character-building” relationships, and a stint as a chef, Emily went back to school at Dartmouth where she skied (or fished, depending on the season) daily, wrote a few screenplays, and earned her Master’s Degree in writing and media studies.
While editing medical texts and dreaming about writing a novel, Emily went to Martha’s Vineyard on a whim and met her future husband who is, of course, a doctor. And a pianist. He plays. They sing. They get married. He finishes medical school, they have a child, she writes a novel. Emily’s dreams are realized. She writes books.
Emily Franklin is the author of two adult novels, The Girls' Almanac and Liner Notes and more than a dozen books for young adults including the critically-acclaimed seven book fiction series for teens, The Principles of Love. Other young adult books include The Other Half of Me the Chalet Girls series, and At Face Value, a retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac (coming in September 2008).
She edited the anthologies It's a Wonderful Lie: 26 Truths about Life in Your Twenties and How to Spell Chanukah: 18 Writers Celebrate 8 Nights of Lights. She is co-editor of Before: Short Stories about Pregnancy from Our Top Writers.
Her book of essays and recipes, Too Many Cooks: Kitchen Adventures with 1 Mom, 4 Kids, 102 New Recipes ~ A Memoir of Tasting, Testing, and Discovery in the Kitchen will be published by Hyperion.
Emily’s work has appeared in The Boston Globe and the Mississippi Review as well as in many anthologies including Don't You Forget About Me: Contemporary Writers on the Films of John Hughes, When I Was a Loser: True Stories of (Barely) Surviving High School by Today's Top Writers, and Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers on the Mother-Daughter Bond. Emily writes regularly about food and parenting for national magazines and newspapers. She travels, teaches writing seminars, and speaks on panels, but does not tap dance. Emily Franklin lives outside of Boston with her husband and their four young children.
Having learned early on that she has little to no dancing ability, she left the tap world behind, studied at Oxford University, and received an undergraduate degree concentrating in writing and neuroscience from Sarah Lawrence College. Though she gave serious thought to a career in medicine, eventually that career followed her dancing dreams.
After extensive travel, some “character-building” relationships, and a stint as a chef, Emily went back to school at Dartmouth where she skied (or fished, depending on the season) daily, wrote a few screenplays, and earned her Master’s Degree in writing and media studies.
While editing medical texts and dreaming about writing a novel, Emily went to Martha’s Vineyard on a whim and met her future husband who is, of course, a doctor. And a pianist. He plays. They sing. They get married. He finishes medical school, they have a child, she writes a novel. Emily’s dreams are realized. She writes books.
Emily Franklin is the author of two adult novels, The Girls' Almanac and Liner Notes and more than a dozen books for young adults including the critically-acclaimed seven book fiction series for teens, The Principles of Love. Other young adult books include The Other Half of Me the Chalet Girls series, and At Face Value, a retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac (coming in September 2008).
She edited the anthologies It's a Wonderful Lie: 26 Truths about Life in Your Twenties and How to Spell Chanukah: 18 Writers Celebrate 8 Nights of Lights. She is co-editor of Before: Short Stories about Pregnancy from Our Top Writers.
Her book of essays and recipes, Too Many Cooks: Kitchen Adventures with 1 Mom, 4 Kids, 102 New Recipes ~ A Memoir of Tasting, Testing, and Discovery in the Kitchen will be published by Hyperion.
Emily’s work has appeared in The Boston Globe and the Mississippi Review as well as in many anthologies including Don't You Forget About Me: Contemporary Writers on the Films of John Hughes, When I Was a Loser: True Stories of (Barely) Surviving High School by Today's Top Writers, and Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers on the Mother-Daughter Bond. Emily writes regularly about food and parenting for national magazines and newspapers. She travels, teaches writing seminars, and speaks on panels, but does not tap dance. Emily Franklin lives outside of Boston with her husband and their four young children.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 10, 2012
Reviewed by Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen for TeensReadToo.com
It's one winter vacation three girls will never forget, even if they may want to.
First there's Harley, who quickly packed her bags to get away from her life, which basically took place in a trailer, so she can have a little fun and excitement. With a bad attitude, Harley doesn't really care about her job, even if it is the top job that everyone wants -- hostess. It helps to have good looks. Harley can't believe her luck, even if she doesn't show it. She is finally able to start a whole new life, hopefully complete with some rich and famous friends, and a hot boyfriend on her arm.
Then there is Melissa, the girl from Australia who loves to follow by the book and believes everything she reads. It's her first time at Les Trois but definitely not her first time around this type of scenery. Her ultimate goal is to forget about everything that has happened to her with a certain professional skier and find something else to worry about, like learning how to cook, since that is her job and she has no idea how to. Being able to get over her ex seemed easy, especially since her encounter with a guy named JMB leaves her completely breathless. But, then she found out that the one person she did not think she would see just happens to make his way to the slopes at Les Trois.
Last but not least is Lily. To all her old rich friends, Lily was her name but now, in a whole new environment complete with people who have never known her, Lily is now Dove. Unfortunately for Dove, she received the lowest job on the Les Trois working ladder, that of maid. But it is completely fine with her since all she wants is to earn money so she can see Will, the guy she cares about the most.
All three girls, who get off on the wrong foot in the very beginning, will soon find friends in one another. All want to have a good time, while trying to keep their jobs, and all hope that what they wanted to leave behind will not find their way back to them.
Fans of Emily Franklin's THE PRINCIPLES OF LOVE series will not want to miss out on this new one, CHALET GIRLS. BALANCING ACTS is not only heartwarming but is a story that shows us the true meaning of friendship, especially with people who we never thought we would be friends with, and how all of our lives are full of slopes -- we just need to be ready for the ride. Grab a cup of cocoa and a warm blanket, because this is one winter read you do not want to miss.
It's one winter vacation three girls will never forget, even if they may want to.
First there's Harley, who quickly packed her bags to get away from her life, which basically took place in a trailer, so she can have a little fun and excitement. With a bad attitude, Harley doesn't really care about her job, even if it is the top job that everyone wants -- hostess. It helps to have good looks. Harley can't believe her luck, even if she doesn't show it. She is finally able to start a whole new life, hopefully complete with some rich and famous friends, and a hot boyfriend on her arm.
Then there is Melissa, the girl from Australia who loves to follow by the book and believes everything she reads. It's her first time at Les Trois but definitely not her first time around this type of scenery. Her ultimate goal is to forget about everything that has happened to her with a certain professional skier and find something else to worry about, like learning how to cook, since that is her job and she has no idea how to. Being able to get over her ex seemed easy, especially since her encounter with a guy named JMB leaves her completely breathless. But, then she found out that the one person she did not think she would see just happens to make his way to the slopes at Les Trois.
Last but not least is Lily. To all her old rich friends, Lily was her name but now, in a whole new environment complete with people who have never known her, Lily is now Dove. Unfortunately for Dove, she received the lowest job on the Les Trois working ladder, that of maid. But it is completely fine with her since all she wants is to earn money so she can see Will, the guy she cares about the most.
All three girls, who get off on the wrong foot in the very beginning, will soon find friends in one another. All want to have a good time, while trying to keep their jobs, and all hope that what they wanted to leave behind will not find their way back to them.
Fans of Emily Franklin's THE PRINCIPLES OF LOVE series will not want to miss out on this new one, CHALET GIRLS. BALANCING ACTS is not only heartwarming but is a story that shows us the true meaning of friendship, especially with people who we never thought we would be friends with, and how all of our lives are full of slopes -- we just need to be ready for the ride. Grab a cup of cocoa and a warm blanket, because this is one winter read you do not want to miss.
November 15, 2008
i thought this was rele good!!! (:
April 8, 2014
really intense and i liked it, but it was extremely hard to follow. hopefully the second one is better :P i'm really captivated though :)
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews