Various Positions: Book summary and reviews of Various Positions by Martha Schabas

Various Positions Summary

Trapped between the hormone-driven world of her friends and the discontent of her dysfunctional family, fourteen-year-old Georgia is only completely at ease when she's dancing. When she is accepted into Canada's preeminent ballet school, Georgia thinks it is the perfect escape. Artistic Director Roderick Allen singles her out as a star, subjecting her to increasingly intensive training, and Georgia obsesses about becoming the perfect, disciplined student. But as she spends more and more time with Roderick, it's not so clear exactly what their relationship means. Is he her teacher and mentor, or is there something more? These blurred lines will threaten both Roderick's future at the academy and Georgia's ambitions as a ballerina.

Ages 14+

Various Positions Reviews

"Starred Review. A robust first-person narrative voice, multidimensional supporting characters, and a suspenseful plot add up to a strong debut." - Publishers Weekly

"Presenting a richly nuanced portrait of a young woman struggling to make meaning of the mixed messages and complexities of the world surrounding her, Various Positions is a cross between a modern day Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret? by Judy Blume and Jerzy Kosinski's Being There." - VOYA

"[A] read-in-one-gulp debut." - The Toronto Star

"A thought-provoking look at femininity and sex, made all the more confusing by that ultimate contact sport - ballet." - Kirkus Reviews

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Martha Schabas trained in classical ballet as a child. She holds an M.A. in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia, where she received the David Higham Literary Award. She lives in Toronto, Canada. Various Positions is her first novel.