Alicia Alonsa loves to dance and has since her first lessons. She was so determined to become a Prima Ballerina she left Cuba to dance in the United States. She began to lose her sight and found ways to adapt to her sightless world and continue her dancing. Rebel Girls has again expanded their stories about exceptional, ground breaking women girls can look up to and respect.

This is the life story of a Cuban ballet dancer. She showed much determination in the face of adversity and this is illustrated in the book. There is by necessity a certain amount of supposition regarding Alicia's thoughts and actions but this does make the book an easier read as a result. It should appeal to any dance mad girls aged between 8 and 12 years old and some boys who are interested in dance might benefit from reading about the Alonso brothers.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. Alicia pursued her dream even after her father only thought it was a passing phase. She kept at it and let nothing stop her. Even when she had to remain motionless in bed for her retinas to heal, she still did the ballet scenes in her head. She kept practicing and all her hard work paid off.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Rebel Girls who send me an arc in exchange of an honest review*

Ok you know by now that I love the stories about Rebel Girls. So when I saw that the new addition is my favorite ballerina Alicia Alonso I thought that they outdid themselves. I really love Alicia Alonso and her story is a true inspiring story for all the little girls who want to meet greatness. If Alicia Alonso can do it, so can we. Am I right? I know I am. I implore you to read this book. This is my new favorite addition.

I received an electronic ARC from Rebel Girls through NetGalley.
Another biography in their chapter book series. Readers meet Alicia Alonzo as a child who is passionately committed to learning to dance. She studies as many types as she can but longs to learn ballet. We then see her pursue her passion from Cuba to New York City, NY where she first works in musical theater and then becomes part of a ballet company. Sadly, she experiences some serious issues with her eyes and has to cope with total bedrest and immobility. Her perseverance and desire to dance again shines through. Alonso serves as a role model for having a dream and working to achieve it. The book ends with a challenge for readers to pursue their passions also.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Rebel Girls for allowing me an eARC of this book

This book is so hard to review, because I frankly struggled with it a bit. Not in terms of content; I've fallen in love with Alicia in no time at all, and am in awe of her strength and determination (and frustrated with the 'care' she was given at the start).

I am also aware this is a book for kids, on the lower end of Middle Grade, so I am not complaining about the writing style; it has to be juvenile for it to work on kids! So that was also very well done.

What I struggled with, is the lapse of time. I realize that if a book becomes too big, too long, kids are more likely to be daunted by it and not pick it up, meaning books can't be too long, but the time jumps in this were so fast! They happened super quickly, and not obviously at all. If I had to keep serious track of what was written to figure out when we were and how old Alicia was (I had to do math most of the time), how is a kid going to?

In short, it felt incredibly rushed and all jumbled up.

But I did love the concept, and the art. What this woman overcame, how she persevered, despite her visual impairment, is a huge inspiration. I can barely get out of bed sometimes and she just did That! Passion like that is rare, and stories like this should be shared. I'm just super sad it was so hard to follow in terms of the timeline.

Having said that, this book made me look up some videos of her, even though I am not a big ballet fan at all. She was stunning.

I'll go for a 3,5/5. 3 Feels too low, 4 too high, but I'll round it up to 4 in her honor.

For all the girls who want to grow up and be dancers, they need to look no further than Alicia Alonso. A beautiful story that had me throwing roses onstage by the final page. Despite having two left-feet myself, I will be dancing to my own beat the day this book is released.

As with all the Rebel Girls book I've read, this really was an enjoyable, enlightening read.

Ballet was my favourite hobby as a child, taking dance classes three times a week so ofcourse anything Ballet related I gravitated to and I still do now as an adult. The little girl in me would of enjoyed reading this inspiring book, alike the grown woman in me also enjoyed being reminded of the beauty of Ballet.

I would definitely recommend for little boys or girls who show an interest in dance.

I would like to thank Rebel Girls for providing me with an ARC.

I really like these chapter books. They are providing an excellent introduction to the figures that they are portraying to young readers. These books have great illustrations. The activities in the back are fantastic and serve as a great way for children to continue learning or chase after a passion. This one is of course focused on Alicia Alonso, who I've never had the pleasure of learning about before. This one was an excellent addition to the series.

An uplifting story of a girl who loved to dance and never gave up on her dreams.
Alicia is a great role model for girls with vision problems or girls who love to dance. She worked hard to reach her goals despite life getting in the way.
There are some fun ideas and activities at the end of the book, as well as some qr codes for further online entertainment.

ALICIA ALONSO TAKES THE STAGE is a ten-chapter middle-grade book with some illustrations throughout and an afterword.

The illustration style is the same as the other Rebel Girls middle-grade chapter books.

Like other Rebel Girls books, there are activities in the back and they are tied to a charity/organization with a mission statement similar to what Alonso's work was about.

Thank you to Rebel Girls for pre-approving me for a copy of this book.

Very lovey. This was inspiring for young girls both for the love it shows for ballet and dance as well as for the tenacity and strength that Alicia shows in learning to dance as well as coping with her eye sight issues. This will motivate young girls to fight for their dancing and to give their all to succeed - be that in dance or whatever they put their mind to.

Review to come on the 18th Feb to blog/goodreads/amazon.

I definitely don't know this girl. I love these books. I wonder what other inspirational girls I will discover thanks to this series. In this book we meet a girl named Alicia who loves loves loves to dance. From Spanish dances when she lived in Spain to learning ballet when she returns to Cuba. Only her parents just think it is a fun pastime but not something to do as professional job, and my heart just broke for her. She is so good at it, has so much joy from it, but then this. We see her continue on, dancing for all her life, getting better and better. And finding love. I just loved that part! I was a bit sus about her hubby, I don't know why, so I am happy that they were so happy. And we see how she finds love and luck and joy in New York, I just enjoyed reading about her performances, about all the opportunities she got. But then. OH NO. I was just crying. That is just horrible. Many people would have given up. Just lain in bed and not do anything. But no Alicia. She kept on going. Dancing in her head, thinking of all the dances. And I loved that her husband was there for her to support to. To help her. And then comes the rest, what after this all? I was just so excited and now I want to see if there are photographs of that performance! And I loved that Alicia decided to inspire other girls and boys and went to teach them. She had a studio, a new dance school. Love it. Plus, like all the other books we get an afterword, I loved that those are added!

This is another absolutely outstanding book by Rebel Girls, this time this is a story of a ballerina who is facing deteriorating eyesight just as she is at the peak of her career.
This is a story of strength, resilience, and persistence, and, above all, it tells the story of yet another example of women’s awesomeness.

This book will be a perfect independent reading option to have in our classroom library. I teach High School Multilingual Learners, and many of them will enjoy this book. It tells an engaging and inspiring story using straightforward and accessible language. I appreciate that it features a strong female lead character and a diverse cast. I also enjoyed the color illustrations that occasionally popped up throughout the book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#NetGalley #RebelGirlsSeries

This book tells the story of Alicia Alonso, a ballerina who started losing her sight during the height of her career. I loved reading about Alonso's perseverance and how her love for dance was at the forefront of her mind even when recovering from surgery. This book followed Alonso from her first dance class throughout her career as she had a child, multiple eye surgeries, and even started her own dance school.
The activities at the end of this book deal with coordination, showing emotions through body language, and of course, some basic ballet techniques.

by Rebel Girls

#AliciaAlonsoTakestheStage #NetGalley

Rebel Girls has done a fantastic job with this series of biographies about girls/women who faced challenges and successfully dealt with them. These are chapter books with short(ish) sections and good illustrations. They are just a bit over 100 pages long. To me, they seem just right for those in second or third grade and up.

This time, one of the best known dancer’s story is told. Life was not always easy for Alicia as she faced a serious vision problem that, in a less strong person, might have been career ending. How did she manage not to give up and not to hold back?

Young readers will enjoy getting to know Alicia, who adored dance from an early age, studying dance in Spain and Cuba before moving to New York with a young Senor Alonso. I loved the story of how she got her first pair of ballet toe shoes. Readers will be cheering for Alicia as she becomes the person that she dreamed of being.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Rebel Girls for this title.

Another great historical fiction novel from the Rebel Girl series. This one focuses on Alicia Alonso who dreams of being a ballerina. Alicia had to fight visual impairments to fulfill her dream, but she succeeded in becoming a great prima ballerina.

Rebel Girls does a great job with this series of chapter books following amazing women in history. This book is no exception. Alicia Alonso was a ballet dancer from Havana who became a prima ballerina in New York City, as well as a teacher to many esteemed ballet dancers. She became partially blind from detached retinas and was put on bed rest for a year. Despite that, she came back to dancing at the professional level in NYC and accomplished more than ever, starring in her dream role.

This book connected with me, not just because of the beautiful illustrations and inspiring story, but because I also had a retina detachment at a young age. I understand how painful and frustrating it can be physically and mentally to lose even part of your eyesight. The determination she showed was simply amazing. Coming back to ballet after an entire year of bedrest must have taken so much determination and passion. I am so happy to have read this book and learned about Alicia Alonso.