Stupid Cupids

Bad News Ballet #3

by Jahnna N. Malcolm

In this third title of the series, Valentine's Day approaches, and the girls at the Deerfield Academy of Dance have boys on the brain. It all starts when a real-live boy enrolls as a new student in their ballet class. He's not just a good dancer, he's way cute. Now the girls have something else to compete over. Meanwhile, Zan, McGee, Rocky, Mary Bubnik, and Gwen learn that Annie, their favorite ballet teacher, has no date for the big day. They soon make it their mission to find her one — maybe even find her the perfect boyfriend. Among the candidates are Ralph, the janitor, and Stan, a black belt in tae kwon do. With friends like these, who needs Cupid?

199 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Jahnna N. Malcolm is the pen name for husband-and-wife team Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner. Together they've written four musicals, two movies, three CD-ROM games, and nearly one hundred books, including the popular series The Jewel Kingdom. They met in the theater and were married on the stage using Marlowe's famous love letter from "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" as their wedding vows.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

review coming soon

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book 3 is silly, and I don’t really care for it. In book 3, a boy joins the ballet class, and every girl in the class is smitten, although some, like Rocky, won’t admit it.

This plays on Rocky’s hard exterior, quiet crush moments, and honestly, I can feel for her, but I also feel like no one ever addresses it. But to be fair, the lessons learned in each book don’t carry over.

Still the same stereotypes, still the same girls, still the same solving problems without adults. But this time there’s jealousy over the new guy, which ends up being not worth it, which is a worthy lesson for the girls to learn.

What the girls do to win Annie a boyfriend for Valentine’s day is something that gave me secondhand embarrassment even as a kid. Why would you think it’s okay to handpick some boyfriends for your teacher, from a newspaper ad?

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, so the girls trying to find a date for their ballet teacher was a kind of cute storyline, I must admit. They were a fun bunch!