Friendship under pressure
Five friends face changing ambitions and the end of their time together, while a tragedy tests whether their friendship can survive.
Book details
Una LaMarche - Author
This is an ensemble coming-of-age novel about five ambitious teenagers whose friendships and romantic hopes are unsettled during their final school year. Its central appeal is the interplay between performance, identity, aspiration and emotionally complicated relationships.
At a prestigious New York City performing arts school, five friends connect over one dream of stardom. But for Joy, Diego, Liv, Ethan and Dave, that dream falters under the pressure of second-semester, Senior year. Ambitions shift and change, new emotions rush to the surface, and a sense of urgency pulses between them: Their time together is running out. Diego hopes to get out of the friend zone. Liv wants to escape, losing herself in fantasies of the new guy. Ethan conspires to turn his muse into his girlfriend. Dave pines for the drama queen. And if Joy doesn't open her eyes, she could lose the love that's been in front of her all along. An epic ensemble piece in the vein of Fame and Let's Get Lost, You in Five Acts is a eulogy for a friendship -- the heartbreaks, the betrayals, the inside jokes, the remember-whens. And the tragedy that changed everything. Senior year, at a prestigious New York City performing arts school. Their time together is running out. Diego hopes to get out of the friend zone. Liv wants to escape, losing herself in fantasies of the new guy. Ethan conspires to turn his muse into his girlfriend. Dave pines for the drama queen. And if Joy doesn't open her eyes, she could lose the love that's been in front of her all along. When a tragedy changes everything, ambitions shift ... will friendship survive?
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Sign in for personalised guidanceThis is an ensemble coming-of-age novel about five ambitious teenagers whose friendships and romantic hopes are unsettled during their final school year. Its central appeal is the interplay between performance, identity, aspiration and emotionally complicated relationships.
Five friends face changing ambitions and the end of their time together, while a tragedy tests whether their friendship can survive.
The teenagers attend a prestigious performing-arts school and pursue ambitions that shift under the pressure of their final school year.
Joy, a Black ballerina, faces body shaming and indignities linked to a ballet world described as largely closed to Black women.
Expect emotionally heightened material involving heartbreak, betrayal, body shaming, racial barriers in ballet and a tragedy that changes the friends’ lives.
This is a grounded book brief while Suitabook strengthens the analysis: some draft conclusions still depend on unresolved evidence.
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