For younger dancers, having a mentor generally is a lifesaver. However not each pupil has entry to that one dancer on the studio with the proper recommendation for each scenario—the form of knowledge that comes from lived expertise.
American Ballet Theatre principal Misty Copeland and New York Metropolis Ballet principal Tiler Peck, having reached nice heights in their very own dance careers, are serving to to fill that hole. Lately, they each wrote books that lend a serving to hand to youthful dancers—or youngsters with any pursuits—by offering ideas, how-tos, and anecdotes on navigating younger life. Letters to Misty (Simon & Schuster, Could 2025) and XO Ballerina Large Sis (Penguin Random Home, October 2025) are books that readers can end in a single sitting or reference after they want some pro-dancer knowledge.
Right here’s some extra data about each of those thrilling new books you’ll be able to add to your fall studying listing:
Misty Copeland, Letters to Misty
Copeland has revealed 10 books for kids, younger adults, and adults to date. Her newest middle-grade ebook is Letters to Misty: The best way to Transfer Via Life with Confidence and Grace. Co-written with creator Nikki Shannon Smith, the ebook reads like {a magazine}’s recommendation column, with Copeland answering questions on matters that may be utilized to bop or to life usually. The ebook is cut up into 5 sections, every akin to one of many positions of the ft and arms in classical ballet.
Copeland weaves private anecdotes in together with her recommendation. When answering a query about making associates, she tells the story of how she met Catalina, considered one of her oldest associates, when she simply began coaching at her first ballet faculty. She shares how in her friendship with Catalina, she feels secure sufficient to be herself, and emphasizes that as an essential attribute in any relationship. Whereas Copeland typically refers again to her ballet coaching and profession for examples, Letters to Misty focuses on life recommendation that may be related to any younger individual going by way of a interval of self-discovery and progress.
Tiler Peck, XO Ballerina Large Sis
Peck can be no stranger to writing, having revealed the middle-grade novels Katarina Ballerina (Simon & Schuster, 2020) and Katarina Ballerina & the Victory Dance (2021). Her newest, XO Ballerina Large Sis, is written with co-author Leslie Tonner and is Peck’s first nonfiction work. Devoted followers would possibly discover that the ebook, which has a tone as heat and pleasant as Peck’s on-line voice, is predicated on her social media video collection of the identical title.
In an interview with Pointe, Peck shared that XO Ballerina Large Sis covers every thing she needs she knew when she was youthful: “I didn’t need youngsters to really feel alone in the event that they weren’t raised in a dance household.” The books’ matters vary from tying pointe shoe ribbons to dealing with competitors in a wholesome means. Peck says that the ebook, whereas geared toward performers ages 8 by way of 12, is devoted “to each younger dancer with massive goals.”