Marie Dancing by Carolyn Meyers

I finished reading the book Marie Dancing by Carolyn Meyers. The story takes place in Paris in the 1800's. Marie is a fourteen year old girl who lives in poverty and whose dream is to become a professional ballet dancer. However, the dream does not come easy for she has to take care of her family. Her mother is an alcoholic, her older sister is selfish, and Marie's father died when she was young. Although the youngest sister is kind and smart Marie promised her father that she would take care of the family. Marie must balance her dance life and her home life in order to survive. Along this road she meets Monsieur Degas, a famous artist who asks Marie to pose for him. She soon becomes the official model for the statuette Little dancer aged fourteen - La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans - and she takes us through her emotions and experiences. The story takes place over the course of a couple of years from when she was fourteen to when she got married to an old friend of the family to raising her sisters baby.
Something that i will remember from this book is that you have to follow your dreams and always have a a back up plan. It is okay to follow your dreams but it is a good idea to have a backup plan. If your dream doesn’t work out it will be beneficial for you to have something to fall on that way you are not completely stumped.
I would recommend this book to those who like historical fiction and those who are into dance because the book is based on the story behind an actual statuette and the story has to do with a dancers life.