A review by literarybutterfly
Tiny Dancer by Siena Cherson Siegel

3.0

When I first came across Tiny Dancer, I was eager to read it because I too was a ballerina growing up. I was interested to see if I could find myself in the story as I don’t believe I’ve ever read anything about dance before. I really enjoyed the graphics in Tiny Dancer. I was really impressed with the detail and accuracy put into the depiction of ballet. As a former dancer, that kind of attention to detail is really important to me in any kind of depiction of dance regardless of the medium. I did really appreciate the portrayal of the comparative nature of ballet and how it often feeds into negative self thoughts and feelings of inadequacy when set backs keep you from following the same path as your peers. I think any athlete can relate to the feelings of lost potential and uncertainty after an injury as depicted in Tiny Dancer. I would also have like to seen a lot more exploration of the dance culture at large and how it often negatively impacts mental health. In my experience, dance instructors perpetuated unrealistic expectations of body image and perfectionism. They were quick to criticize and only sparingly dealt out words of encouragement or approval. For this reason, Tiny Dancer felt very singular in its story, but as this is a memoir, perhaps this was not as big a part of the author’s experience as it was mine.

Overall, this is a pretty solid graphic memoir. It’s reminiscent of Spinning by Tillie Walden which similarly chronicles the author’s life through graphics but as an ice skater. If you’ve enjoyed that, I think you would also like Tiny Dancer.

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-arc of Tiny Dancer. All opinions are my own.