In some ways, this might be the most difficult book of the series to review. The previous five are clearly impacted by nostalgia, and the subsequent ones interested me more for the sake of completing the series, but THIS one I can only recall with complete and utter shock. I discovered it nearly 10 years after my initial reading of the series, when I was in college. It was the first time I had unfettered access to the Internet on my own computer, and it was my first introduction to the delights of eBay and international shopping. I honestly have no idea what compelled me to search for this author, but when the rest of the series suddenly popped up, I couldn't contain myself. It was a childhood dream come true!

I had to fight for each of these books, as they were obviously long out of print and only available overseas, mainly in England and Australia. At certain points I was paying over $40 for a book that was under 200 pages. It was utter madness, and yet I had to do it!

Being objective is almost impossible. Of course I feel like it wasn't as strong as some of the first five! I read them as children! At the same time, how could I not fall back in love with the world?

In the end, I think four stars is accurate. There were some parts that didn't flow as well as some of the others, and I didn't really love the new character of Yolande. But Drina and Grant melted my heart, and her reaction to the confusion and helplessness of being in love at nearly 15 was completely accurate and well-written. But my objectivity is clearly compromised, without a doubt. My excitement simply knew no bounds when I encountered this.

3.5 stars, rounded up. Drina's grandfather needs to go to New York for a conference, so the Chesters suggest that Drina accompany them, even though it means she will miss a month of school. At first she resists, but then gives in. Her caring is illustrated by her reaction to Jenny's family's troubles, and also by her attempts to help Yolande, another young dancer. But Drina is also distracted by her first "crush" — which I felt took away from the story. A story that also seemed to lack focus.

3.75

I had not read the Drina books since I was a child and I recently re-read them all. I read the first 5 as a child and then as a teen I hunted down the final 6 once I realized they existed. I am happy to say that for the most part they hold up to the test of time. They are very much in the style of British school stories but I quite like those. I think the whole series is definitely worth the effort it takes to hunt them down.

I love the Drina books, and this one was particularly fun as I live in New York. The book was written in the 60s, but it was still accurate in terms of geography. It was sad to hear her mention the World Trade Center Towers several times.

She also refers to 30 Rock as the RCA building.

This is one of my favourite Drina books. She travels to New York as her grandfather is going there on business and she falls in love with the city as well as an American.

This is the book that Drina grows up and Estoril does a great job capturing one of my favourite cities as well as the pleasure and pain of being in love for the first time. Of course this wouldn't be a Drina book if she somehow didn't find an opportunity to dance. She ends up being in a school dance show after meeting Yolande Mason on the ship.

One of my favourites. Drina loves New York so much and her enthuiasim lives off the page. Also first time Grant appears.

The One Where We First Meet Grant. Sigh. I suppose I liked the rest of this enough, but it was just such a shame to suddenly have to bring a boy into it all!

see review of book #1

Okay I'm a dork. I read and bought this book off of Ebay because when I was a kid I read the first five books in this ballet series. After I finished the fifth, I couldn't find any more on the Scholastic order form they used to pass out at lunchtime in my elementary school. I was devastated. My mother even called scholastic and asked if there were any more. They told us to contact the author and ask her to write more books.

Then one day last month (thanks to Goodreads) I started wondering what ever happened to that stupid series and the character Drina. After all these years I still wanted to know. I started doing some internet research and low and behold, the author had written 11 Drina books. Yes 11. And all were published before 1960 in the UK. Apparently, only the first five of the series were available in the US. So...many internet purchases and eBay auctions later, I've now read the sixth book in the series. I'm well on my way to completing the series.

Drina is fifteen and she finally falls in love with an older American, who lives in NYC. She travels to New York on the Queen Mary and dances with a company in the city. These books are totally unrealistic but really really fun and gratifying. I have no idea why.

Read this series in JR High and simply LOVED them! I need to track these down.....