My Ballerina Stepsister

Lara gets bumped lower in the family ranks when her former ballerina mother remarries. The newest family member-her ballerina stepsister-fulfills her mother's desires as a daughter more than Lara could ever do. She's tall, thin, graceful, and beautiful next to Lara's shortness, "big-boned" shape, and clumsiness. Lara, instead, is talented in keeping her exuberant younger sister out of everyone's hair. She just wishes her younger sister would acknowledge their real father-the one Mom...
More Description

Lara gets bumped lower in the family ranks when her former ballerina mother remarries. The newest family member-her ballerina stepsister-fulfills her mother's desires as a daughter more than Lara could ever do. She's tall, thin, graceful, and beautiful next to Lara's shortness, "big-boned" shape, and clumsiness. Lara, instead, is talented in keeping her exuberant younger sister out of everyone's hair. She just wishes her younger sister would acknowledge their real father-the one Mom divorced when the little sister was an infant, the one whose existence Mom often tries to deny. Mom also would like to pretend Lara's racially mixed grandparents don't exist. Lara feels her mother would sometimes prefer to erase her, too, to remove all blemishes on her new perfect family.High school is just as frustrating for Lara when a snotty cheerleader dubs her "Thunder Thighs." She hopes a place on the gymnastics team will give her an in, make her mother proud, and get the attention of a cute boy she's had an eye on. But when she fails to make the team, she turns to losing weight. Lara quietly wilts away as her mother's life gets complicated with other distractions-the stepsister's bout with scoliosis, a new pregnancy, and tension with Lara's aunt over reconciling with their parents. Lara gets thinner and thinner until she loses control. And when her troubles cascade down to her little sister, their mother gets a frightening wakeup call.