Miss Lina's Ballerinas and the Wicked Wish by Grace Maccarone

ONE SUNNY DAY, A GUEST CAME TO VIEW

MISS LINA'S TEN DANCERS PLIE' AND TENDU.

MISS LINA ANNOUNCED, "THIS IS MISTER BRISE'.

HE'LL WATCH YOU TAKE CLASS," SHE EXPLAINED, AND HE MAY

INVITE YOU TO DANCE WITH THE CITY BALLET."

Miss Lina's dancers--Christina, Edwina, Sabrina, Justina, Katrina, Bettina, Marina, Regina, Nina, and Tony Farina--are tres excites when they are observed by Mr. Brise', knowing that this is an audition for the big performance of "Sleeping Beauty." But, alas, Regina loses her balance in the line, causing a domino effect among the dancers, ending with their newest member, Tony, falling onto the floor. It is only one misstep, but it means that, while the rest of the class are chosen to dance la valse with garlands of roses in the grand wedding procession, Regina and Tony must portray the giant rats who pull Beauty's carriage to the wedding.

Tony is totally down with performing the part of a rat, but Regina feels embarrassed with her fall from grace. She can't help wishing, just a little bit, that one of the waltzing girls will fall ill so that she can step in and claim her rightful place with the rest of Miss Lina's ballerinas. She even dreams of herself, waltzing gracefully, garlanded with beautiful roses, to the applause of the glittering opening night audience.

"Be careful what you wish for--because you might get it" is the well-trod theme of Grace Maccarone's and Christine Davenier's third ballet tale, Miss Lina's Ballerinas and the Wicked Wish (Feiwel & Friends, 2012), because Regina finds herself suddenly called on to replace Sabrina, who falls very ill:

SHE LEARNED SABRINA HAD THE FLU.

SABRINA'S DANCE WAS HARD TO DO--

PAS DE BASQUE AND SOUTENU!

And that's just the beginning, as one misfortune after another occurs. Nina and Martina, too, fall ill, and Edwina sprains an ankle, followed by a cascade of maladies and mishaps among the class, and Regina despairs that she can learn everyone's routine in time for the performance. Her wicked wish has come back to haunt her and she has even come to rue the scent of roses!

But the show must go on, as Regina repents her wicked wish in this sequel in the careers of Miss Lina's little corps de ballet, as the recovered ballerinas toe the mark on opening night in another delightfully brava pas de deux by this talented author and illustrator duo.

For young ballet fans the author thoughtfully appends a synopsis of the Sleeping Beauty ballet and a glossary of ballet terms.