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A review by erine
When Langston Dances by Keith Mallett, Kaija Langley
inspiring
3.5
A glowing celebration of dance and movement. I love that Langston is not pigeonholed into anything: he likes basketball, he loves ballet, he shines at movement in general. I love that there is no shame in him wearing his basketball uniform to dance class, there is no shame in him no knowing how everything works at first, there's just a thoroughly welcoming atmosphere. An attitude of "come dance with us!"
The only major disappointment were the final pages, which strongly imply that Langston grows up to become a phenomenal dancer and for some reason that had me looking for backmatter (about the Alvin Ailey company, about a specific dancer who inspired this book, I'm not sure what I was looking for, but I turned the page with high expectations for something more and it just... ended). This was clearly my own personal problem, but it was still a letdown.
Overall, though this was a solid, enjoyable, positive read.
The only major disappointment were the final pages, which strongly imply that Langston grows up to become a phenomenal dancer and for some reason that had me looking for backmatter (about the Alvin Ailey company, about a specific dancer who inspired this book, I'm not sure what I was looking for, but I turned the page with high expectations for something more and it just... ended). This was clearly my own personal problem, but it was still a letdown.
Overall, though this was a solid, enjoyable, positive read.