White Lies
by Cathy HopkinsCat's always been the perfect girl next door. Thoughtful friend. Supportive
Read ReviewMao's Last Dancer
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One day, not so very many years ago, a small peasant boy was chosen to study ballet at the Beijing Dance Academy. His mother urged him to take this chance of a lifetime.
But Li was only eleven years old and he was scared and lonely, pushed away from all that he had ever known and loved. He hated the strict training routines and the strange place he had been brought to. All he wanted to do was go home - to his mother, father and six brothers, to his own small village. But soon Li realised that his mother was right. He had the chance to do something special with his life - and he never turned back . . .
(11 votes)
Reviews
Oct 24,2012
Mao's Last Dancer is a really sad book. I have watch the movie as well. It's about a boy who is called Li and it tells us about how he got pick to go and train as a ballet dancer. He had to leave his family and friends to commit to this amazing opportunity. After that he was accepted into a company in America. He experiences lots of new things in his new life :)
Oct 12,2012
It is a good book about a young boys perservrance to succeed aginst all odds and to fulfil his dreams.
Oct 11,2012
Mao's Last Dancer. By Li Cunxin
The novel Mao's Last dancer is a in depth auto-biography about the life of a young boy growing up in communist China to later become one of the most famous ballet dancers in the world. Mao's Last dancer is an extrodianry true story about a young boys courage and determination, which motivates its readers to believe that dreams can come true.
Li Cunxin cleaverly structures the novel to captivate the readers, starting the book with the unique story of his parents traditional Chinese wedding in the 1940's, to then continue the novel with explaining the hardships of living in poverty stricken China as a boy. The novel takes an interesting twist when Li gets accepted into a ballet accademy run by the Chinese communist government and moves away from the familiar settings of the country to the fast growing extrememly busy and populated city of beijing.
I found Li's life at the ballet academy very interesting as i myself am a dancer and can relate to some of the hardships and harsh excersizes he did. Li explained in great detail how difficult he found living away from his family and how cruel some of his ballet teachers were, although a lot of his time away from home was almost unbearable, he also describes the people in his life that motivated him and led him to dance in a whole new world altogether, America.
Li wrote the novel in first person as he remembered everything to be. This was a great technique to use as it makes great sections of the novel a lot more interesting. When Li moves to America for one year, everything in the western world was so alien to him. He captivated his readers by using satire when describing the first time he sees many objects that we use in our day to day lives, for example the ATM.
The novel has many different twists and turns including Li's love story, his fear of dishonouring his family, his dedication to the arts and his passion in living his life to the fullest. Mao's Last Dancer is a very well written auto-biography by Li Cunxin and i would recomend it to anyone of any age interested in history, the arts, culture or a story about love.
Apr 26,2012
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i read this book last year and i really loved it! it took me a while to read the book where i got up to but it was worth reading. by about the second to third chapter, it started to get really exciting and got me hooked so i just wanted to keep reading! now it is one of my favourite books out! once i started reading it one day i couldnt stop readinng it. The book is a bit sad but it is amazing!
So in the first chapter of the book where it was a bit boring they were saying about like where he lives and how poor his family are and that he got taken away and stuff.
one it started to get really exciting, they started to say like what he wants his career to be like and then he gets a scollaship to a massive ballet industry and that he is not used to all the strict and mean teachers.
he ends up a proffessional and i didnt get to read the end of the book, sadly.
this book was in the top 5 of my favourite books ever!! i loved it, it was amazing!!
Teaghan
Mar 23,2012
MAOS LAST DANCER
This book is about a young boy who has the oppurtunity to change his life from poor to famous. This book is set in Qingdaowith a family of 9 people living in a two room house with all of their relatives. This phenomenal book has 6 pages of pictures from when he was a peasent, at the Beijing dance academy and his future life. This book has 328 pages and 23 chapters. I recommend this book to ages between 10 and 13 and for mature ages. I give this book a 5/5, and I would love to read this book again because it is so surprising with all of its twists and turns.
Mar 23,2012
MAOS LAST DANCER
This book is about a young boy who has the oppurtunity to change his life from poor to famous. This book is set in Qingdaowith a family of 9 people living in a two room house with all of their relatives. This phenomenal book has 6 pages of pictures from when he was a peasent, at the Beijing dance academy and his future life. This book has 328 pages and 23 chapters. I recommend this book to ages between 10 and 13 and for mature ages. I give this book a 5/5, and I would love to read this book again because it is so surprising with all of its twists and turns.
