In the nitty-gritty language and world of an urban black teenager, 15-year-old Joyce rebuffs the advances of an older man
In the nitty-gritty language and world of an urban black teenager, 15-year-old Joyce rebuffs the advances of an older man, struggles for acceptance with snobbish peers, mourns an unrequited love, and aspires to a dancing career denied her lonely mother. Physique, not technique, excludes Joyce from her high school's classical ballet production of Sleeping Beauty. By accident, she intrudes on a practice session of African dancers. Joining the group, Joyce finds that her spirit, style, and abilities are at last unleashed in this dance form which reveals her talents. Although the introductory emphasis on Joyce's big ``butt'' and bustline and her subsequent sexual allure is heavy-handed, Williams-Garcia goes on to convey Joyce's eagerness to dance, hunger for acceptance, and need to be loved. In the end, Joyce develops a greater sensitivity to others and accepts responsibility for her own actions. She is no longer just ``Blue Tights'' to her ballet teacher or an object of ridicule among her peers
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