Sugar Plum Ballerinas

Alexandrea Petrakova Johnson does not want to be a beautiful ballerina, and she does not want to leave her friends in Apple Creek. Unfortunately, that doesn't stop her ballet-crazy mother from moving them to Harlem, or from enrolling Al at the Nutcracker School of Ballet. Life is hard when you're the new ballerina on the block, and it's even harder when you're chosen to be the Sugar Plum Fairy in the school recital!

Perfectionistic Jerzey Mae desperately wants to be a ballet dancer. But she's frustrated by her own lack of talent--and by her friends' jokes about her terrible dancing. Things get even worse when her little brother Mason attends her ballet class, totally embarrassing Jerzey in front of her prima ballerina idol, Miss Camilla Freeman. When Jerzey learns that Miss Camilla will be attending their recital, she's determined not to make a fool of herself again. But her efforts to learn her dance are continually thwarted--until she finds help in a very unexpected place.

The fourth book of the award-winning and bestselling “Sugar Plum Ballerinas” series by Whoopi Goldberg. At the Nutcracker School of Ballet in Harlem, young dancers learn to chassé, plié, and jeté with their Sugar Plum Sisters, but things don't always go to plan! As the girls encounter challenges both on and off stage, they'll need the support of their classmates to carry them through with aplomb. Terrel is always in charge, whether she's making lists for grocery shopping (her favorite hobby, AFTER ballet), keeping her brothers in line, or organizing father-daughter time in with her dad. Lately, though, her dad's been acting a little strange-wearing new clothes and way too much aftershave. Things get even weirder when he surprises Terrel with his new girlfriend during a night out at the ballet-a night that was supposed to be father-daughter time. What's more, his "date" brought her niece along. A niece who turns out to be Terrel's ballerina nemesis, Tiara Girl! With some Sugar Plum help, Terrel takes charge of breaking up her father's new relationship.

Jessica is worse than worried when she learns that the Nutcracker School of Ballet might lose its lease! Life just wouldn't be the same without the ballet classes she shares with her Sugar Plum sisters. Her problems mount when she rescues an adorable stray kitty on her way home from class. The animal shelters can't take the cat for weeks, so Jessica hopes the cat can live at the Nutcracker School in the meantime. But the school is already in trouble, and a cat could be just what the landlord needs to bring down the curtain on the ballerinas-permanently.

Epatha knows she's the perfect pick for the lead in the new Sugar Plum ballet. But her dream role isn't as fabulosa as she imagined. When she tries to spice up the choreography with her free-spirited style it's up to the rest of the Sugar Plum Ballerinas to keep Epatha's toes in line. Will Epatha listen to her friends or can she convince the other ballerinas that her way is the best?