The Maddie Diaries: My Story

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Gee, thanks, Naima, for your support. But I'm not flunking English," I said, aggressively stirring my yogurt so hard it spilled over the edges. "And I'm not giving up my spot." Yeah, nobody's taking Harper's spot," Lily said. "Harper is one of the best dancers in the whole studio." Harper, don’t put too much pressure on yourself,” Mom said. “If this studio isn’t a fit, we can try another one. I just thought since DanceStarz is a newer studio that has only been open a few years, it might be easier for you to acclimate. Be a big fish in a smaller pond.” I knew my mom got nervous for me too. I did appreciate my mom. Not only did she drive me to the studio practically every day, she had to do things like hot-glue thousands of rhinestones on competition costumes at the last minute and sew my hair into bizarre headpieces with feathers or things while I yelped in pain. I took every class they offered: ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, contemporary. I loved lyrical and contemporary the most, felt confident with my technique in ballet classes, and did tumbling and hip-hop for fun and to help with my routines.

I'm not flunking English," I said, slimming my yogurt down on the table. "And I'm not giving up my spot." Harper McCoy loves her life in Connecticut. She’s got great friends and everyone on her dance team knows her skills. But when her family moves to Florida for her dad’s job, she finds herself having to prove her ability at a new dance school. The girls on her new team would rather have their old friends than welcome a newcomer. To win their respect Harper must work hard and show them that they all benefit when they work together. I did think it was funny that the mean girl trio (or at least Megan is the meanie) were of the standard trope. We had the mean bossy girl (Megan), the jealous third wheel (Riley), and the sweet ditz (Trina). I just think it is hilarious that so many mean girl trios are made up out of this. My costume is amazing—beautifully detailed with thousands of sparkling rhinestones—my makeup is flawless, and my headpiece is sewn in tightly but not so tightly it will give me a screaming headache later. Oops. I was spacing out. I let go of the piece of hair I was twisting from my ponytail. I wasn’t onstage at a competition, amazing the audience. I wasn’t even on a competition team—yet. I was sitting in a new chair, in a new dance studio, waiting to audition for a totally new competition team.

Table of Contents

In this inspirational memoir, Maddie explains the hard work she put in to her rise to stardom and how she keeps her balance along the way - starring in music videos, going on tour and becoming an actress in The Book of Henry, with Naomi Watts and Jacob Tremblay. She also answers her fans' burning questions with wise advice she's learned on her journey. A fun and sparkly book about a girl who moves to a new place and finds a new dance studio, new friends, and new dance moves~ From Dance Moms star and So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation judge Maddie Ziegler comes the first novel in a brand-new middle grade trilogy about friendship, dance, and going after your dreams.

I read the book in one day. Is it the greatest literary tome of our time? No. But I love Dance Moms, so it was fun to read a book by one of the dancers. The Audition by Maddie Ziegler, is about the protagonist, Harper McCoy, a dancer, she has been dancing since she can walk. She lives in Connecticut and she was one of the best dancers at her studio, but sadly her dad was transferred to Florida. She has to start off with a new dance studio and she has to make all new friends. She makes a great friend Lily and starts to become closer with her other teammates “The Bunheads,” Trina, Megan, and Riley. She has to prove to her teammates that she was worth adding to the competition team. Will she ever be accepted or will she always be an outsider? This book was very interesting for me because I am a dancer and understand what it is like to go and change to a different dance studio. I really enjoyed The Audition because I watched the show Dance Moms where the author, Maddie Ziegler, was the star dancer. The subject and author interested me into the book, especially I was curious to find out her style of writing. She used a lot of humor and excitement. Being a 15 year old who has inspired me almost my whole life, I was happy and excited that I was able to read this book. I was curious to think maybe this was her own story and part of it happened in her life. When I finished the book I said to myself, “Wow I hope there’s a sequel because I love these characters so much.” They were just so like me. I felt the story was especially strong in the area of where they have to do a dance in a parade and that is the time where she will prove herself worthy. Estaba aburrido, eran casi las 12 de la noche y no sabía que leer, así que fui al cuarto de mi hermana, tomé este libro en un aventón y decidí leerlo para ver que me parecía. Sorpresa, lo terminé disfrutando demasiado. I really liked the personal touches throughout this book. There are small doodles from Maddie and pictures from her being a small child up until now. These were nice touches. The message throughout this whole book is pretty positive, and I think Maddie really shows her pride in being a positive role model for her peers. With honesty, charm and humour, Maddie offers her unique perspective on making her way in the world as a young teenager, reflecting on the lessons she's learned - and preparing for the exciting road ahead.I just finished The Audition, by Julia Rozines DeVillers and Maddie Ziegler, and it was such a good book. The Audition is about a girl named Harper who has been dancing her whole life, but suddenly moves from Connecticut to Florida. There she joins a new dance studio and gets on the advanced competition team with only four other girls. There she meets three girls who have been dancing together their whole life, but one other new girl. Although at first the other girls aren’t very accepting of her, they soon become friends.

All in all, I had plenty of fun reading this one. It is filled with friendship, fun, sparkles, and dancing. I will definitely have to see if I can find the other two books in the series. As long as they feature Harper as MC and haven’t switched to the other girls. Don’t get me wrong, I like the other girls, but I just want Harper the most as a MC.

Retailers:

Thank you @kidlitexchange for providing me with a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own. Spontaneous twirling was completely optional. The crowd is going wild! The audience is chanting: “Harper! Harper!” My mother’s voice in particular stands out from the crowd. since the book is written in Harper's point of view it was Hailey who was making fish faces at her. You can do it, Harper! Love you, Harper!” My new teammates are encouraging, but I know they’re questioning how this will go. This routine is nearly impossible! How could any twelve-year-old ever possibly pull this off? My adrenaline is racing.