A Time for Dancing [Paperback]

Davida Wills Hurwin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1997 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Samantha and Juliana. Sam and Jules--they've been best friends forever. Now, in the summer before their senior year, they're ready for anything! College? Professional dance careers? They'll share the triumphs and face the fears together. But neither of them is prepared for what happens when Jules is diagnosed with an incurable cancer.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Few YA dramas deal with the issue of terminal illness as intimately as this gripping first novel, which alternates between the points of view of Juliana, at 16 a gifted dancer, and her "one-and-only" best friend, Samantha. The girls' initial concerns about boyfriends and dance class seem trivial after Jules is diagnosed with histiocytic lymphoma, a deadly form of cancer. Through graphic depictions of what follows?endless sessions of chemotherapy, emergency runs to the hospital and Jules's periodic escapes into a dream state?readers will feel the young victim's weariness as she fights against the body which has betrayed her. They will also experience Sammie's complex responses as she watches her friend embark on a "solo journey" toward death. The dissipation of Jules's hopes, her growing acceptance of the inevitable, and the reactions of peers and family members are hauntingly true to life; they camouflage the less credible episodes (Jules's brilliant performance in a dance concert during the last weeks of her life). Although the subject matter may be too intense for some, others will come away from this book with a deeper respect for mortality. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-10?A personal look at how terminal illness affects the lives of best friends and those around them. Juliana (Jules) and Samantha (Sam) have been dance partners since they were nine years old. The summer before their senior year holds promises of good times and hard work at the studio. Then Jules is diagnosed with diffuse histiocytic lymphoma and needs massive doses of chemotherapy immediately. Despite everyone trying to act "normal," Jules faces greater and more difficult choices each day. And Sam becomes increasingly confused as to how to live her own life and stay true to her dying best friend. Each girl, in turn, narrates a chapter, and family and friends' reactions to the crisis are genuinely portrayed. The impact of illness is accurately balanced with the rising crescendo of impending death. This novel compares favorably with Cynthia Grant's Phoenix Rising (Atheneum, 1989), Alden Carter's Sheila's Dying (Putnam, 1987; o.p.), and Lurlene McDaniel's series, "One Last Wish" (Bantam). While the ending is not upbeat, the closeness that the two teenagers feel and their bonding that transcends the body when death occurs come through clearly. A good choice.?Jana R. Fine, Clearwater Public Library System, FL
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (December 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140386181
• ISBN-13: 978-0140386189
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (185 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,124,404 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars tear jerker, June 21, 2001

By 

jrubi02 "jrubi02" (Chapel Hill) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Time for Dancing (Paperback)

I bought this book for my 14 year old, because she loves dancing and she heard about it and wanted it. I picked it up to have a look and I just cried straight through the last 2/3 of the book. I had to skim some of it (it is a teenage read), but it's really quite good. There's a nice play back and forth between best friends: one lovely girl with cancer, and another equally lovely girl without cancer. The first has a very creditable relationship with her mother and family (a big part of the cry) and the other has an absolutely awful mother and an absent father. Both of their lives trickle down the drain pretty realistically during a relentless year of chemotherapy. Altogether well done - though I didn't appreciate the insensitive woman doctor - no pediatric cancer doctor could possibly be that hard-edged.

I think of my daughter sitting in her big chair and reading this book in one sitting, thinking about her own friends, and dancing, and trying to figure out what cancer is and why people die, and crying. Of course, she's a girl, and she'll really love it. Big recommendation to all the soft-hearted teenage girls out there.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This could possibly be the best book I've ever, ever read!, November 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Time for Dancing (Paperback)

A Time for Dancing was so wonderful, I could not stop crying even after I finished, this book touched my heart not like any other has. I felt that I knew both girls and had a connection with them since I too take ballet and the strange thing is one of my dance teachers name is Linda and I have a good friend named Julie. This was a very hard book to read in the fact that you knew what was going to happen, but when and how it was going to end. I think Davida Wills Hurwin is one of the best authors I've read, thank you for writing and publishing this book, it truely was amazing and inspirational...I'm looking forward to sequal....I hope it is as good as this one.....I would totally thing everyone should read this book, it should be a novel for english classes everywhere...all I can say is WOW!!!!!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hurwin is a genious, June 24, 2002

By 

Kim (Troy, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Time for Dancing (Paperback)

I picked up this book at the library a few years ago, and I was hooked after only a few pages. Now, I have my own copy and have read it over a dozen times.

This novel is about two high-school seniors, Samantha and Juliana (Sam and Jules). Their future holds great plans for college and dancing, but when Julie is diagnosed with cancer, their world is shattered. Both girls' lives change for the worse as they try to cope with all that Julie goes through.

Hurwin is an excellent writer, and I cry every time I read the ending. The characters are so well-formed that I often must remind myself that they are only fictional. As I am a junior in high school, I can relate to almost every scene. I recommend this book for anyone in grades 6-12 looking for an awesome read to remember.