Book details

Macmillan Children's Book

She Kept Dancing

The True Story of a Professional Dancer with a Limb Difference

Author: Sydney Mesher and Catherine Laudone; illustrated by Natelle Quek

She Kept Dancing
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She Kept Dancing

She Kept Dancing

$18.99

About This Book

This debut picture book tells the true story of Sydney Mesher, the first Radio City Rockette with a visible disability.
Page Count
40
Genre
Children’s Literature
On Sale
10/31/2023
Age Range
4-8

Book Details

This warm and inviting picture book, cowritten with Catherine Laudone and brightly illustrated by Natelle Quek, takes young readers along on Sydney’s journey—through the joyous ups as well as the crushing downs—and tells the story of how through it all, she kept dancing.

No two dances were the same. Each one was beautiful because it was different—just like how Sydney’s body was also beautiful because it was different.

Sydney Mesher was born with ten toes and five fingers. But it was her toes that her mom noticed first. "I can tell she’s going to be a dancer," she said.

And it turned out Mom was right—after years of hard work, Sydney eventually danced her way onto the famous stage of Radio City Music Hall, becoming the first Rockette with a visible disability.

Imprint Publisher

Feiwel & Friends

ISBN

9781250842671

In The News

Praise for She Kept Dancing:

"Shines a spotlight on Sydney’s empowering message of 'celebrating different body types.' ... Quek’s effervescent digital illustrations are full of motion and emotion. Photographs and a 'Note from Sydney' round out this inspiring introduction to an athlete gracefully kicking down disability barriers and misconceptions." —Booklist

"Aspiring dancers will especially enjoy [Sydney's] journey, and readers with limb differences will find reassurance that their bodies, too, are 'worth celebrating.' ... Affirming and uplifting." —Kirkus Reviews

"Written with Laudone, Mesher’s personal tale centers persistence in following a dream alongside a message of 'celebrating different body types using a language everyone could understand: dance.' ... The honest, sensitive voice doesn’t shy away from representing the cruel words that Mesher endured ('Others called her a monster'), while also capturing the joy of 'turning, swaying, and leaping.' Depicting characters with a variety of skin tones, Quek’s figure-focused cartoon art enlivens the pages with energetic depictions of movement." —Publishers Weekly

About the Creators

She Kept Dancing

She Kept Dancing

$18.99