Various Positions

Gr 10 Up—In this unique coming-of-age story, Georgia is a troubled 14-year-old, and her struggles to understand her burgeoning sexuality and her journey through adolescence are particularly rocky. Her mother is dysfunctional and moody while her father is in a constant state of disapproval of his daughter's ballet aspirations. Having made dance her life, she is ecstatic to be accepted into a prestigious academy in Toronto. While many of her peers experiment with the trappings of femininity like makeup and tight clothes, Georgia remains outwardly innocent looking but thinks about sex obsessively. She explores pornographic websites, fantasizes about men on the subway, and takes nude photos of herself. She develops a crush on Roderick, her ballet instructor, even though his teaching methods are intense and at times inappropriately harsh. Some of the girls suffer under his direction, but Georgia, desperate for approval, flourishes. She interprets his attention as sexual interest and tries to seduce him, almost destroying his career in the process. Just as readers will most likely find the prose to be overly descriptive and wordy, they will likely find Georgia's actions to be at times unbelievable. As disturbing as it is, there is also something compelling about her story, and readers will want to see it through to the end.—Ragan O'Malley, Saint Ann's School, Brooklyn, NY