Trigger warnings: war, death of a parent, violence, graphic death, gore, death of a sibling, grief, racism, mentions of HIV. Michaela DePrince shot to fame when a ballet documentary featured her. The documentary was called First Position and you can read more about it here. Born into a war-torn county, Sierra Leone, Michaela Mabinty Deprince witnessed atrocities no child should ever have to see. Her journey began with her birth mother and father who loved her dearly. Early on Mabinity was singled out often due to her unique appearance, she had spots that she later learned was a skin condition called vitiligo. This led her to be subject to hateful names but her birth parents thought she was beautiful and loved her regardless. Her father exposed her from a young age to the reading and the power of knowledge to which his brother (her uncle) critiqued, claiming no daughter should be taught to read as their only fate is to become a housewife. Moreover, Mabinity’s intellectual ability blossomed beyond her years, she was a very bright child. The orphanage was a place of sorrow with the children making their own fun with the scraps they had. However, amongst the darkness, Mabinity found her love for dance there and a young girl who became her best friend and would be for years to come. A day came when the girls were all adopted by American families, rescued from the disguised day-to-day trauma in the orphanage. It was this rescue and ignited Michaela Deprince’s dreams and the rest was history.

While at the orphanage she witnessed her teacher be murdered but she also befriended a couple of girls. She was eventually adopted by US parents, along with her best friend. She went to live in the US, pursued her dreams of ballet and even appears on Dancing with the Stars. Now about the book as a whole, the style of writing is very simplistic with baby Michaela being the narrator. It is worth noticing though how the writing develops and becomes more complex as the book progresses and Michaela becomes a grown up. I am not here to judge the author's writing skills. This is not her job anyway; her job is to tell stories through her body and not through her words. Today, Michaela is an international ballet star, dancing for The Dutch National Ballet at the age of 19.

And then Michaela and her best friend are adopted by an American couple and Michaela can take the dance lessons she's dreamed of since finding her picture. The beginning of the book is very sad, as it tells of her life, the poverty, the loss of her parents, abuse from her uncle, and experiences of death that she faced when she lived in Sierra Leone. Expect to shed a whole lot of tears when reading this part of the book. Elaine and Charles DePrince had experienced enormous losses themselves, with the deaths of two of their haemophiliac sons before Michaela was born. Another son died while she was a young girl, and the couple adopted nine children altogether. Some of these people I loved; others I detested. But if it were not for them, I would not have a life, let alone be a ballerina.

The life in orphanage was not an easy one. Aunty Fathima, one of a care taker hates her and tortures her when she gets an opportunity. Michela finds hope in her maths teacher in the orphanage. Unfortunately, she was also murdered by rebels in front of her eyes. Her teacher once brings a magazine for Michela, where she was first introduced to the concept of Ballet. Michela's only respite in the orphanage was her best friend, Elaine. For the people who are not involved in the dance world at all, let me introduce you to the 20 year old Michaela DePrince, principle ballet dancer at the Dutch National Ballet. This is her story about how ballet saved her life. Well it might sound too dramatic but in this case it is true.

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Later, a tragedy occurred leaving Mabinity and her mother under her Uncles abusive control. Life moving forward became a horror with her mother later falling to death also. Mabinity’s uncle then declared there was no use for her as she was a spotty girl who no one would ever offer a good bride price for she was sent to live in an orphanage. Her passion for dance came about when she found a copy of a dance magazine when she was very young, with a ballet dancer on the front cover doing a retire en pointe. Michaela wanted to be just like that ballerina, and Hope In A Ballet Shoe tells of her lifelong passion for classical ballet and how she beat all the odds to achieve her dream.