by Tiler Peck
Out in the audience, someone suddenly stood up out of their seat and began to dance in the aisle. The lights in the auditorium began to come up, and Katarina realized the dancer was Tiler Peck! Farther up the aisle, Beatz was rocking his one-man band, and lots of audience members were clapping or bopping along in their chairs. Katarina spotted her dad and her school friends in the second row, and she ran down the steps on the side of the stage to go join them. Her dad jumped up and started dancing with her in the aisle, and her friends followed.
“This is so great!” her dad said over the sound of the music.
“I love ballet!” Grant added, doing a definitely non-ballet dance move that involved him moving his arms around his head like a sprinkler.
When Katarina glanced around, she saw that many of the dancers from her class had joined her in the auditorium and most of the audience was on its feet, dancing along with them. They all danced together until Katarina’s heart was practically bursting, and she was sure everyone else could feel it too.
When Beatz’s song came to an end, the whole theater erupted in cheers and applause. Katarina ran up to Beatz and gave him the best hug she could around all of the instruments strapped to his body.
“Thank you!” she told him. “You really saved me.”
He kissed her cheek. “Thank you, Katarina Ballerina.”
The host stepped back out onto the stage with her microphone and a big smile. “Well, that was certainly different, wasn’t it?” she said. “Let’s have a hand for Katarina Marin and Suhanisa Kapoor!”
The applause was as loud as thunder in Katarina’s ears.
“And a round of applause for our mysterious musician,” the host continued, pointing to Beatz, “and to all of you for the excellent dancing you did this evening!”
Katarina heard her dad’s distinctive whistle, even over all of the clapping and cheering.
“I’d like to ask all the dancers to come back out onto the stage while our judges make their final decisions,” the host said. Katarina said goodbye to Beatz, and her dad and school friends waved to her as she headed to the stairs that would take her back onto the stage. Before she got there, a hand reached out and stopped her.
It was Tiler Peck. “Good luck, Katarina!” she said.
“Thanks!” Katarina breathed. The truth was, tonight had been so amazing that she didn’t care anymore if she won or not.
Katarina gathered onstage with the other dancers in Madame Alla’s class to await the judges’ decisions.
“You were incredible!” Sunny whispered to her as they stood side by side. “It was like you were lit up from the inside. I loved watching you, ma belle pamplemousse.”
Katarina giggled. “Did you just call me your beautiful grapefruit?”
Sunny grinned. “Yep.”
“Well, thank you,” Katarina said. “I couldn’t have done any of this without your help.”
Celeste sidled up on her other side.
“Hey, Katarina,” she said.
Katarina blinked in surprise. It was the first nice thing she could ever remember Celeste saying to her. “Oh, uh, hi, Celeste.”
“I just wanted to say… that was the most fun I’ve had dancing in a long, long time,” Celeste said. “You’re going to have to teach me some of those moves of yours sometime.”
Katarina grinned. Maybe Celeste wasn’t so bad after all. “Deal.”
Just then the host stepped back onto the stage with a piece of paper in her hand. She was about to announce the winners! Katarina grabbed Sunny’s hand, and Sunny gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze.
“Okay, everyone, I have the judges’ decision,” the host said. “You all did a fantastic job tonight and should be very proud, but only two of you will win a place at the Washington Ballet Summer Intensive in Washington, DC, this summer.”
Suddenly Celeste grabbed Katarina’s other hand. Katarina smiled and gave her hand a squeeze to encourage Celeste the same way Sunny had her.
“And the first spot goes to…”—Beatz struck up a drumroll out in the audience—“Celeste Hart!”
Celeste looked like she might faint when her name was announced, and Katarina and Sunny cheered for her along with everyone in the audience. She had danced so beautifully that she definitely deserved a spot at the camp. When Celeste was too stunned to step forward to take a bow, Katarina laughed and gave her a little push.
The host lifted the microphone back to her mouth. “And the final spot at WBSI goes to…”
Sunny gripped Katarina’s hand so hard, she thought her fingers might break. But although Katarina would dearly love to go to that dance camp, all of her nerves were suddenly gone. She’d worked hard and done her best, and she’d shared her love of dancing with everyone in that theater. She couldn’t ask for anything more than that. It had been the absolute best night of her life.
“Katarina Marin!” the host announced.
Three Months Later
“OKAY, GIRLS,” KATARINA’S dad said as they arrived at the college campus in Washington, DC, where they’d be attending the dance camp for the next two weeks. “Are you ready?”
Katarina turned to Celeste, who was sitting beside her in the back seat of her dad’s car.
“I guess so,” Celeste said.
Katarina grinned and tucked one of her loose curls behind her ear. “Let’s do this!”
They parked in front of the main building and climbed out of the car. While her dad unloaded their suitcases, Katarina and Celeste looked around at all the other young dancers who were arriving from countries all over the world. There was going to be so much to learn here, and Katarina couldn’t wait to get started! She and Celeste shouldered their dance bags and got ready to walk inside the building, which had a sign on the door that said DANCER REGISTRATION.
“Oh man, I’m really nervous,” Celeste confessed.
Katarina took her friend’s hand. “Just be yourself, because you’re special just the way you are. Got it?”
Celeste smiled. “Got it.”
Katarina took a deep breath, ready to run up the stairs and toward whatever experiences were waiting for her inside. “Here we go!”
Acknowledgments
STORYBOOKS HAVE THE incredible power to move children and shape the way they feel and interact with the world. As a little girl, Tiler remembers reading her favorite book about dance over and over again and being enchanted by the idea that dance is a universal language that has the ability to move everyone too. When Kyle was little, he took a dance class and locked himself inside a bathroom the day he found out he had to perform in the recital. To this day, he wonders what might have been if he had seen it through. We are hoping that this book will inspire kids of all ages to own what makes them unique and embrace their own special gifts. Work hard, be kind, and dream big, and you’ll be amazed at what’s possible!
We want to extend a special thank-you to Alyson Heller and the entire Aladdin/Simon & Schuster team—Mara Anastas, Chriscynethia Floyd, Tiara Iandiorio, Chelsea Morgan, Nicole Russo, Lauren Carr, Caitlin Sweeny, Alissa Nigro, and Anna Jarzab—for making our dreams a reality. You surrounded us with so much warmth and guidance, and we knew from our first meeting: Katarina Ballerina had found the dream team.
To our agent, Lacy Lynch, and to Dabney Rice of Dupree Miller, for your tireless work and support. You believed in us as authors and in our book from the very beginning, and we couldn’t have done this without your guidance and passion for storytelling.
To Cristin Terrill and Sumiti Collina, thank you for hearing our voices and pouring your heart into the story and illustrations to help us bring Katarina to life.
Tiler would also like to thank Lauren Auslander and her LUNA team for being the link that made all of this possible. Your work ethic and professionalism is unmatched, but more important, you are an absolute pleasure to work with. Thank you for always pushing me to dream big and then making those dreams become realities.
Victoria Morris, for always having my best i
nterests at heart. You have been by my side since I was eight years old, and I look forward to many more years of friendship.
Finally, to the one constant in my life: my family. Your unwavering love and support is something I feel grateful for every day. Thank you, Grandma, for your dedication to my training and encouragement to live a life beyond what you had. My mother, who was my first dance teacher and continues to teach and inspire the next generation and me. My dad, for always being the rock for us girls. And to my sister, Myka, who has been the best role model a sister could ask for. Your strength and selflessness astound me every day.
About the Authors
TILER PECK is an award-winning international ballerina and has been a principal dancer with New York City Ballet since 2009. As an actress, she has been seen on Broadway in On The Town (as Ivy) and The Music Man (as Gracie). She originated the role of Marie in the Kennedy Center’s production of Little Dancer (now called Marie), which is Broadway-bound with Tiler attached to star alongside her coauthor, Kyle Harris. She is a recipient of the 2013 Princess Grace Statue Award and a 2016 Dance Magazine Award and was named one of the Forbes 30 Under 30 in Hollywood & Entertainment. Tiler was the first woman to curate three BalletNOW performances at the Music Center in Los Angeles, and she starred in the Hulu documentary Ballet Now. She is the designer of Tiler Peck Designs for Body Wrappers, a line of dancewear for all ages. She lives in New York City with her dog, Cali, but her heart splits time between the Big Apple and her small hometown in California, where she was first introduced to dance at her mom’s studio.
KYLE HARRIS is a Broadway and television actor who grew up as a soccer player in Irvine, California. Kyle recently starred in the popular Freeform series Stitchers, has appeared in Sondheim on Sondheim, and is currently in the new hit play The Inheritance on Broadway. He toured the country as Tony in the Broadway national tour of West Side Story and starred opposite his coauthor, Tiler Peck, in the Broadway-bound musical Little Dancer. Kyle has also appeared on the TV shows The Carrie Diaries, Beauty and the Beast, High Maintenance, God Friended Me, and The Blacklist: Redemption. If it weren’t for his mother introducing him to children’s books at a young age and his grandmothers’ encouragement of his creative talents, he knows he wouldn’t be as well-rounded and successful in the arts as he is today.
SUMITI COLLINA is a magenta-haired illustrator based in Italy. She was born in Ravenna in 1990 and from that moment loved drawing and being a night owl. Determined not to ever live without pets, she lives with two very rustic dogs. She has illustrated stories and fairy tales for clients all around the world.
ALADDIN
Simon & Schuster, New York
Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids
www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Tiler-Peck
www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Kyle-Harris
www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Sumiti-Collina
WATCH FOR KATARINA'S NEXT ADVENTURE, COMING IN 2021!
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALADDIN
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First Aladdin hardcover edition May 2020
Text copyright © 2020 by Pecksterina & Co, Inc., and Kyle Harris
Illustrations copyright © 2020 by Sumiti Collina
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Book designed by Tiara Iandiorio
The illustrations for this book were rendered digitally.
Jacket designed by Tiara Iandiorio
Jacket illustration copyright © 2020 by Sumiti Collina
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Peck, Tiler, author. | Harris, Kyle, 1986- author. | Collina, Sumiti, illustrator.
Title: Katarina Ballerina / by Tiler Peck & Kyle Harris ; illustrated by Sumiti Collina.
Description: First Aladdin hardcover edition. | New York, New York : Aladdin, 2020. |
Series: Katarina Ballerina ; 1 | Audience: Ages 8-12. | Audience: Grades 4-6. | Summary: With determination and help from her new friends, a ten-year-old
New York City girl overcomes obstacles in her pursuit of becoming a prima ballerina.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019059807 (print) | LCCN 2019059808 (eBook) |
ISBN 9781534452763 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781534452787 (eBook)
Subjects: CYAC: Ballet dancing—Fiction. | Determination (Personality trait)—Fiction. |
Friendship—Fiction. | New York (N.Y.)—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.P43815 Kat 2020 (print) |
LCC PZ7.1.P43815 (eBook) | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019059807
LC eBook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019059808