For younger dancers, having a mentor is usually a lifesaver. However not each scholar has entry to that one dancer on the studio with the proper recommendation for each state of affairs—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 suggestions, how-tos, and anecdotes on navigating younger life. Letters to Misty (Simon & Schuster, Could 2025) and XO Ballerina Massive 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 information about each of those thrilling new books you possibly can add to your fall studying checklist:
Misty Copeland, Letters to Misty
Copeland has printed 10 books for youngsters, younger adults, and adults thus far. Her newest middle-grade guide is Letters to Misty: How to Move Through Life with Confidence and Grace. Co-written with creator Nikki Shannon Smith, the guide reads like {a magazine}’s recommendation column, with Copeland answering questions on matters that may be utilized to bop or to life basically. The guide is break up into 5 sections, every equivalent to one of many positions of the toes 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, one among her oldest associates, when she simply began coaching at her first ballet college. She shares how in her friendship with Catalina, she feels secure sufficient to be herself, and emphasizes that as an vital 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 Massive Sis
Peck can also be no stranger to writing, having printed the middle-grade novels Katarina Ballerina (Simon & Schuster, 2020) and Katarina Ballerina & the Victory Dance (2021). Her newest, XO Ballerina Big Sis, is written with co-author Leslie Tonner and is Peck’s first nonfiction work. Devoted followers may discover that the guide, which has a tone as heat and pleasant as Peck’s on-line voice, relies on her social media video collection of the identical identify.
In an interview with Pointe, Peck shared that XO Ballerina Massive Sis covers every little 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 method. Peck says that the guide, whereas aimed toward performers ages 8 by way of 12, is devoted “to each younger dancer with large goals.”
