I dare say, I have very little to complain about in this one. :P I am almost tempted to give it 4 stars, but looking at my list of 4-star books, my enjoyment of this one just doesn't match up.
In this book, Ivy and Bean are convinced that they will love ballet, and they beg their parents for lessons. Not surprisingly, they hate it. Fortunately, their parents had the foresight to allow them to take lessons only under one condition: The girls can not quit. Moreover, they must participate in the recital.
To the girls' disappointment, the recital has an underwater theme, and they are cast as squids. Seriously, who wants to be a squid!? I don't blame the girls for wanting to find a way out of having to perform in the recital. They come up with some crazy ideas, and settle on running away.
Once again, the author makes reference to something in real life - in this case, the book From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler (I had to Google the connection) - and I had to wonder why the book was not mentioned by name. What a great opportunity this would have been to introduce young readers to something of a children's classic. Unfortunately, most young readers probably would not make the connection, nor would they bother trying to figure it out.
What I really liked most about this book was the ending. Ms. Aruba-Tate's reaction to the girls' behavior was exactly what I hoped it would be. And in regards to the girls having to play squids in the recital - they happily found a way to make the most of an unpleasant situation.
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