Customer Reviews

Dancing Naked: A Novel

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a wonderful book - the first novel to make me cry in several years. About a pregnant girl who must decide what to do with her baby, it's heart-wrenching. The author pulled it off beautifully, until I felt I knew the character well enough to find her on the street. I highly recommend this book. It's one of the few good (and modern) teen novels. It's very absorbing. I stayed up half the night trying to finish it! It's definitely one of my favorites.

I really enjoyed Dancing Naked because its about acceptance and survival. Accepting what Kia is going though. This is acceptance because some of her friends won't accept who she is once she gets pregnant. In the story her school friends won't hang out with her and won't invite her to hang out with them or go to parties. Kia's youth group is there for her the whole way and her leader goes through the parent classes with Kia. Derek is the guy who got her pregnant. He is learning how to accept what Kia does with the child. He had to accept it because she did not do what he wanted her to do. I think it would be really hard having your boyfriend mad at you for making the right choice. He wanted her to get an abortion but she decides to put the baby up for adoption. An example of the theme survival is that people are helping Kia with her decisions. Some of the people who are helping her with her decisions are the Doc's, her parents and her priest from church. These people are helping her by talking to her about what her options are and what will happen in the future if she keeps the child. Her parents have confidence in her that she will make the right choice. I think that would be a hard part because it's your choice to do abortion, adoption, or to keep the child. It would be really hard for her because she's only 17 years old. Kia survives what she had chosen at the end of the book. I think it would be the hardest thing to make the decision whether you put it up for adoption, keep it or have an abortion. I would recommend this book to others if they like a little suspense.

Kia Hazelwood comes to a terrifying and life-changing realization at the beginning of this story-she's pregnant. Once a seemingly perfect daughter, she now has to deal with a reality that few other sixteen-year-olds have to. Her unsupportive boyfriend wants her to get an abortion, yet Kia refuses. At times, it seems that her friends have all but disappeared and she only has the support of her loyal youth pastor, Justin. Yet despite the painful times she goes through, Kia learns poweful lessons through her pregnancy.

The best thing about "Dancing Naked" is that within the first pages it plunges you right into the thick of the situation. The prose is clear and straightforward and the subject matter is intelligently explored without being melodramatic. Readers will definitely appreciate the sweet and realistic character of Kia, and her decision not to have an abortion, yet not to condemn others for chosing that option, is uniquely thought-provoking. Futhermore, the way that "Dancing Naked" alternates between pieces of Kia's journal, her emails to Justin, and third person prose makes for a reading experience that holds your attention.

Overall, a solid choice for any teenage girl. Occasionally, I felt the characters to be slightly caricaturized and simplified-the outrageously unsupportive boyfriend and completely flaky friends, for example. However, the other strengths of "Dancing Naked" all but outweigh this flaw. Readers who are interested in this novel should also investigate Ruth Pennebaker's "Don't Think Twice."

When Kia gets pregnant at sixteen by her boyfriend Derek, she doesn't know what to do. Should she give it up for adoption? Keep it? Get an abortion? She's faced with many difficult choices and with almost no one to help her. In the end, she decides to give the baby away for adoption and she chooses her baby's new parents. She also needs to find a way to cope with the way her friends are ignoring her and the way her boyfriend broke up with her when he found out she was pregnant. It's a very realistic book and at times it almost makes you want to cry. It was a great book that is worth reading.

The first time I read this story i was in grade 6, I had picked it up not knowing that it was about a girl being pregnant. To this day (I am now graduated) I can still remember the story and the effect it had on me. Also recently placing my second child up for adoption brought this story back to the front of my memory. I am so glad i read this so many year ago, and that I still remember it now. This is a must read book!

Dancing Naked. If the title alone doesn't hook you in, the first few pages are bound to. In this, her 2002 novel, Shelley Hrdlitschka demonstrates what has become her trademark - the ability to tailor a story for its young adult target audience, while writing with a depth and precision that easily pulls in older readers as well.

Kia, a plucky-but-savvy 16-year old, takes us on a journey of self-discovery and profound personal growth as she tackles the challenges posed by her unwanted pregnancy. Through emails and journal entries, we feel her fears, pain, and joy, and witness a remarkable transformation into young womanhood.

As in her most recent book Sister Wife, Hrdlitschka populates Dancing Naked with strong, inspirational characters, many of which remain in your thoughts long after the story draws to its suspenseful conclusion. Be forewarned, however. The satisfying and emotionally charged climax comes with a 5-hanky rating!

Tanya Coad

author of Love Haight '69

Love Haight '69: a novel

This book is the best...I was walking around in the library hyper and then i read a cover; Dancing Naked. Laughing I read the back. It seemed interesting. For the characters in the book had so much in common with me; besides the fact that she's pregnant. I really felt the connection with her feelings. If you just want a good read you should read this book. I got so hooked, i read it in one day. SHhH don't tell anyone bhut i loved the book so much that I never returned the book from the LIBRARY

dont be misguided by the title. THis book had a very good meaning behind it. I loved this book and suggest that all teen girls give it a chance. It starts off a little slow but once it picked up i couldnt put it down. THe story of kia is awesome. PLEASE READ!!!

Amazing! I didn't think that the time would come when I would ever cry about a book...but now I realize that my time is now! This book is unbelievable. The characters are so real and the ideas and feelings are all there! A very good read!

Amazing! I didn't think that the time would come when I would ever cry about a book...but now I realize that my time is now! This book is unbelievable. The characters are so real and the ideas and feelings are all there! A very good read!