It’s been several years in the making, but Aisling and Amelia is due for release soon! (Please note: in the publishing world “soon” can mean several months…)
Aisling loves chocolate, ladybirds, and hopscotch, but her favourite thing of all is ballet. When Miss Karissa invites Aisling to perform a duet with Amelia, Aisling is unsure. Can two very different girls become friends?
The idea for this story was suggested by my daughter’s ballet teacher when my daughter was a tiny and forgetful dance student who would often leave a shoe behind at class. When I emailed the ballet teacher after my daughter came home with only one shoe for the third week in a row, the ballet teacher replied; “Is this the topic of your next book? I think so!”
The idea evolved (as ideas do) and rather than being a story about a forgetful ballerina or the adventures of a cunning shoe that escapes at the end of every dance class, the story came to include a dancer who was born without a foot.
My daughter’s teacher was kind enough to take the time to explain ballet terms to me and to choreograph some dance moves for an able-bodied girl and a girl with a limb difference, so I have obviously named the character of the dance teacher after her. Thank you Miss Karissa!
Big thanks also to the very talented and obliging Chloe Finnis for her beautiful watercolour illustrations, and to the Hawkeye team for giving me such agency with the book. Can’t wait to get a copy!
If you’d like a copy of your own, you can pre-order one now from Hawkeye Books.