Saturday Morning Cartoons- Dare You to Dance

Mock, Rebecca. Dare You to Dance

July 28, 2026 by Random House Graphic
E ARC provided by Netgalley

Gracie gets accepted into a prestigious Youth Dancer Summer Program in New York City, and lives with her godmother while attending. She is from Ohio, and a little star struck by the variety of dancers from around the world, who seem to know more about dance than she does. She runs afoul of Sariah, who is very standoffish, and Nicole also gives her a hard time. Luckily, Jaz reminds Gracie of moves when she is not paying attention, and translates the teacher's French for her. There is a lot of drama in the school, and jockeying for solos and opportunities. Gracie dares Sariah several times, but Sariah, battling stiff muscles, doesn't want to get hurt... until she does. It's not a horrible injury, but Gracie learns that Sariah's aunt is the dancer Manon, who had to retire from ballet because she was injured. Gracie meets her idol, Tatiana, and learns a lot about being a team player and part of an ensemble after she sabotages Jaz after her friend wins the solo. Luckily, by the end of the book, the campers are much nicer to each other and rediscover their love of dancing. 

Strengths: The most intriguing part of the book was the author's note stating that at some point, they felt that they needed to DO something with their drawing, rather than just having it as a hobby, and that they translated this feeling to ballet. Certainly, Gracie and the other dancers think they can be professionals. The levels of drama are very high, and the meanness is right up there with the Sweet Valley Twins graphic novels, which appeals to some readers. The look backstage and how ballet training progresses was interesting, and I had a soft spot for Gracie's godmother and her tiny dogs. 
Weaknesses: Graphic novels occasionally have one facet of the drawings (often noses) that really annoys me; in this, Gracie's head often looked flat on one side. No other characters had heads like that, so I had some questions. Otherwise, the illustrations are similar to Gale Galligan's or Gabe Mendez. I wish we had more graphic novels encouraging students to pursue interests like computer programming, where there might be more jobs. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who liked Chase's So Done or Ziegler's The Audition. It would be nice to see more middle grade novels about girls involved in local ballet programs. 

I've always liked to sew and knit, and have never given it up. It never occurred to me to be professional about it, but I do daydream about having a PBS quilting show in the 1990s. Had a moment in college where I thought I could write poetry professionally, mainly due to the $50 I earned for a poem that Writer's Digest published in about 1986. Trying to read all of the middle grade literature leaves little brain space for writing poetry these days.