Hider Seeker Secret Keeper

Gr 10 Up—A smart, tough thriller with an all-too-timely topic. In the sequel to Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy (Soho Teen, 2013), Kiem depicts the corrupt, wealth-driven world of the modern-day Bolshoi Ballet. Lana Dukovskaya is a rising dancer in the corps, preparing to head to New York for her debut tour. Tattooed, crew-cut, and insubordinate, Lana has never been the management's favorite girl, but when a series of brutal attacks on her fellow dancers threatens her safety and her reputation, she begins to fear that she is being targeted by enemies she never suspected. When a mysterious figure from her dancer mother's shadowy past appears, Lana is drawn into intrigues that stretch back more than 30 years. As the teen rehearses to dance the role of the Chosen One, the sacrificial victim in The Rite of Spring, she wonders if she, too, is being prepared for an untimely end. Motorcycle hits, cute Russian boys in Moscow and Brighton Beach, poisonings, rival dancers, and political disappearances make for fast and dangerous action that might seem over-the-top if the goings-on at the real-life Bolshoi weren't even crazier. Lana is a persuasive heroine; jaded, mature, and self-reliant. She has few illusions about the world in which she operates, but her strong loyalties and her passion for her work keep her honest. Kiem's detailed knowledge of the world of the Bolshoi, and of modern Moscow and New York, gives the book an offhand authenticity, even when the plot twists strain credulity. A dark, well-written, and intense read for mature teens.—Katya Schapiro, Brooklyn Public Library