Gigi (Tiny Pretty Things) returns to the American Ballet Conservatory after being intentionally injured by another dancer. Fearing setbacks and wanting retribution, Gigi finds herself stooping to her tormentors' malicious level. First-person narration moves among the diverse cast, grounding the soapy drama with explorations of professional ballet's harsh realities as well as the protagonists' insecurities around racial/cultural identity, sexuality, talent, and body image.

Three girls compete for two coveted company spots in New York's prestigious American Ballet Company, and someone is willing to kill for them.Gossip Girl meets Black Swan in Charaipotra and Clayton's drama-filled sequel to Tiny Pretty Things (2015), which returns readers to the privileged Upper East Side dance conservatory and a world fueled by diet pills, dirty secrets, and unbridled ambition. This novel's diverse cast of ballerinas retains its delightful adolescent cattiness, though each girl has been shaken and hardened, still haunted by the events of the first book. Once again, three protagonists rotate narration: Gigi, the talented black outsider whose career was nearly ended by deadly hazing, June, the Korean-American girl from the wrong side of the Queensboro Bridge, and Bette, the white, wealthy, disgraced former queen bee, determined to prove her innocence. Each girl's emotional battle with perfectionism feels individual and brutally authentic. The book's astute focus on ballet's ability to enrich, ennoble, and also consume the lives of its dancers is what provides this story with its delicious spark. Equal parts mystery and social commentary, the novel is engrossing and titillating without being hyperbolic, which is a testament to the authors' talent and a reflection of an art form that simultaneously raises young women to the highest heights while reducing them to shells of themselves.An addicting thriller that will make anyone who loves ballet clamor for another installment. (Fiction. 14-18)

The mean girls of ballet are back. June, Bette, and Gigi from Tiny Pretty Things (HarperTeen, 2015/VOYA April 2015) are competing for a final spot at the American Ballet Company (ABC). The prestige of the company, the history among the girls, and their fierce determination lead to a no-holds-barred competition. June is the most fragile of the girls. The pressure of trying to be the best dancer and the guilt of her past actions have caused her to have a serious eating disorder that threatens to destroy her. Bette has been expelled because of the allegations that she pushed Gigi in front of a taxi cab, but Bette is determined to clear her name, return to ABC, and get a position in the company. The physical scars from Gigi's accident are visible, but the internal scars are not. Those scars have propelled her to become a vivacious and revengeful dancer. The action never lets up in this scandalous sequel.Shiny Broken Pieces is not for the faint of heart. The trouble-making ballerinas are involved in just about any and every type of revenge. The anger that is evident in the girls manifests itself in eating disorders, sexual conflicts, cyberbullying, and even physical violence against one another. The plot is packed full of action, and the story moves forward quickly as the dancers near the completion for final selection in the company. Those who enjoyed Tiny Pretty Things will not be disappointed.Lynndy Hurdle.