So Many Books, So Little Time : Book Review: Flirty Dancing by Jenny McLachlan

About the book:

Title: Flierty Dancing

Published by: Bloomsbury

Published on: July 3rd 2014

Pages: 300

Genre: Children/YA

Rating: 4/5

Blurb: Bea Hogg is shy but fiery inside. When national dance competition Starwars comes to her school looking for talent, she wants to sign up. It's just a shame her best friend agreed to enter with school super-cow Pearl Harris. Bea will fight back! But when school hottie, Ollie Matthews, who also happens to be Pearl’s boyfriend, decides to enter the competition with Bea, she will have more than a fight on her hands.

This warm, nuanced, hilarious story about friendship, fortitude . . . and dancing is impossible not to fall in love with. Jenny’s voice is fresh and convincing, and she handles both darker and lighter elements of the story with equal panache.

About the author

Jenny McLachlan teaches English to secondary and sixth form pupils. She is also an Advanced Skills Teacher, delivering master classes to pupils, parents and teachers throughout the country. In her spare time, just like Bea, Jenny loves to jive. She is based in Eastbourne.

Find the author here:

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My Review:

This is a story of how harsh school life is- everyone at war with the other for friendships, in pursuit of that achievement the glory of which might not last, and being mean over a boy. Friends become strangers, and bullies become allies. The point here is- at high school, weird things happen.
Life has just taken a turn for the unexpected- the should-never-happen unexpected for Bea Hoggs.
The plot goes like this: we have a bunch of people crazy for dance. The passionate crazy. Bea is not our model. She won't fit into skinny jeans, and dancing will take a lot of hard word, because she isn't a natural. So her friends and estranged friends ditch her, form groups and start preparing for the competition. By some really interesting quirks of fate, she is now supposed to pair up with the college hottie, and dance with him.

You should read this book. I say this for two very important reasons.
a) You are so tired from the day that you need to read, and you are so tired that you just cannot dig into some serious fiction with deep philosophical strands, or imagine that impossible sci-fi world. You need this book to make you smile. And, smile you will!
Because, throughout the book, I was smiling: the plot is predictable, right, but the author carries the narration so effervescently that one cannot help but love the vivaciousness of the plot.
b) High school is hard as it is. And then life intervenes. Everything becomes crooked, plans are thwarted, all balance is twisted upside down! You deal with it all, and as it turns out, the destination is worth all the pains. This book is the most humourous and light-hearted example of dealing with the serious issues.

So, yes, i'd recommend you read this book when you are looking for a couple hours of entertainment, similar to that teen movie!