No Ballet Shoes in Syria

Product Information

These are totemic books, in a perenially popular genre of children's literature, and I think that No Ballet Shoes In Syria more than stands up to them. Aya is 11 years old and has just arrived in Britain with her mum and baby brother, seeking asylum from war in Syria. I also hope that if a young reader like Aya picked up the book, she would see herself depicted not as a victim but as a heroine – not a war child but a beautiful ballerina!

As Aya finds herself drawn into a new community and slowly begins to find her feet, her difficult journey is told through a series of flashbacks.

Joan, a young American dancer, helps Russian ballet star Arslan Ruskov defect from the USSR, then stages a defection of her own, to the Californian suburbs, to teach and raise a family.

This no easy feat, especially as they are still suffering from the trauma of the war back in Syria, their perilous journey to England , and their harrowing separation from her father at sea - as well as the imminent threat of deportation. I enjoy appearing at book festivals and am available for school visits, both virtually and live which can be booked through Authors Aloud (see Contact page for more details). The book addresses the challenges and difficulties faced through an engaging story of a child dancer. Do you win the battle– lose the race – catch the villain – kiss the boy on prom night– and what are the consequences?

It is a sad book because of everything that happened to her in Syria and on her way but it is happy too. Sign up for our monthly teacher newsletter to be the first to hear about more great resources, win copies of our newest books for your school and get a look at what’s coming up next! However, due to the story being written through a white, western lens it lacks the rawness and emotional connection from someone who has had a lived or adjacent experience to Aya's story.

At 13, she came to the barre relatively late and from a chaotic home life, but talent and drive quickly saw her outshine her peers. Object number three might introduce a character who can help your hero/heroine achieve their aim – along with some tools that might enable them to overcome the obstacles they face. Copeland is frank about the racism and sizeism she experienced in an environment that still favours pale skin and narrow hips.

I simply adored Noel Streatfield’s ‘Shoes’ books when I was younger, as well as Lorna Hill’s Sadler’s Wells series (I swear I know them all off by heart! So it’s not really about 9/11 but then again none of those things would have happened if it hadn’t been for that day. It’s not a story that shies away from difficult truths, but it is irradiated by hope, by small acts of kindness – something which I really tried to capture in No Ballet Shoes in Syria too. Aya is a Syrian asylum seeker, looking after her mother and baby brother in the cold, unfamiliar city of Manchester – but she is also a talented ballet dancer.