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A review by smitchy
Hope in a Ballet Shoe: Orphaned by war, saved by ballet: an extraordinary true story by Elaine DePrince, Michaela DePrince
5.0
A wonderful story of hope, perseverance and love suitable for 10+ children and adults. Michaela's early life was marred by death, violence and abuse, but now a talented ballerina, making her mark on the professional international stage, she is sharing her story.
Micheala was born in the 1990's to loving but poor parents in Sierra Leone. Her father worked long, hard hours in a diamond mine and both her parents wanted their only child to have an education - in spite of the fact she was a girl and had a skin condition called vitiligo (areas of skin lose pigment creating white spots - a harmless condition that can cause superstition and shunning in Africa and elsewhere). Sierra Leone in the 90's was a place overrun with violence and it soon came to Micheala's village. Every man in the mine was shot, causing Michaela and her mother to move into her uncle's house. Only men deserve respect in her uncle's eyes and both Michaela and her mother were beaten and starved. Eventually the treatment resulted in her mother's death and at the tender age of 4 Michaela was dumped at an orphanage by her uncle. Treated little better there than at her uncle's house at least for the first time Michaela had friends and the promise that an American family wanted to adopt them. One day a magazine was blown against the orphanage fence - it had a picture of a dancer, tall, elegant and standing en pointe - not that Michaela knew what en pointe was or even the word "ballet" but she wanted to be that girl more than anything.
It was not long before fighting reached the orphanage and, after Michaela witnessed the brutal murder of their teacher, the orphans and their guardians were turned out of their building, allowed only to take their personal documents. They walked all the way to the border, passing village after village that had been massacred. Finally getting to Ghana, adoptions were arranged and Michaela and her best friend Mia were adopted together by their new American family and began a new life at the age of 5.
It was fortunate for Michaela and Mia that their new parents were both kind and experienced. They had already raised 5 boys - two of whom had passed away due to being born with hemophilia and contracting AIDS via blood transfusions - and would go on to adopt 4 more girls after Michaela and Mia. Understandably, Mia and Michaela were extremely traumatised as well as having to learn a whole new way of life. They learned form their new family, started school, and soon they started dance lessons.
Michaela's early life was brutal and traumatising, but the love her birth parents had for her was never forgotten, and the care and dedication of her adoptive parents to ALL of their children made Michaela's dreams possible. Michaela's own dedication, hard work, and passion for ballet have taken her far but she wrote this book along with Elaine, her adoptive mother, to be an inspiration to all girls to pursue their dreams.
Micheala was born in the 1990's to loving but poor parents in Sierra Leone. Her father worked long, hard hours in a diamond mine and both her parents wanted their only child to have an education - in spite of the fact she was a girl and had a skin condition called vitiligo (areas of skin lose pigment creating white spots - a harmless condition that can cause superstition and shunning in Africa and elsewhere). Sierra Leone in the 90's was a place overrun with violence and it soon came to Micheala's village. Every man in the mine was shot, causing Michaela and her mother to move into her uncle's house. Only men deserve respect in her uncle's eyes and both Michaela and her mother were beaten and starved. Eventually the treatment resulted in her mother's death and at the tender age of 4 Michaela was dumped at an orphanage by her uncle. Treated little better there than at her uncle's house at least for the first time Michaela had friends and the promise that an American family wanted to adopt them. One day a magazine was blown against the orphanage fence - it had a picture of a dancer, tall, elegant and standing en pointe - not that Michaela knew what en pointe was or even the word "ballet" but she wanted to be that girl more than anything.
It was not long before fighting reached the orphanage and, after Michaela witnessed the brutal murder of their teacher, the orphans and their guardians were turned out of their building, allowed only to take their personal documents. They walked all the way to the border, passing village after village that had been massacred. Finally getting to Ghana, adoptions were arranged and Michaela and her best friend Mia were adopted together by their new American family and began a new life at the age of 5.
It was fortunate for Michaela and Mia that their new parents were both kind and experienced. They had already raised 5 boys - two of whom had passed away due to being born with hemophilia and contracting AIDS via blood transfusions - and would go on to adopt 4 more girls after Michaela and Mia. Understandably, Mia and Michaela were extremely traumatised as well as having to learn a whole new way of life. They learned form their new family, started school, and soon they started dance lessons.
Michaela's early life was brutal and traumatising, but the love her birth parents had for her was never forgotten, and the care and dedication of her adoptive parents to ALL of their children made Michaela's dreams possible. Michaela's own dedication, hard work, and passion for ballet have taken her far but she wrote this book along with Elaine, her adoptive mother, to be an inspiration to all girls to pursue their dreams.