Chance To Dance For You

Chance to Dance for You by Gail Sidonie Sobat

 

 

Sometimes keeping a secret is harder than telling the truth. Ian lives in a suburb where everything is the same. The houses are the same, the cars are the same, and their aspirations are the same. But Ian is different. Openly gay in his bigoted high school, Ian doesn't exactly fit in. But he's not worried - he's been training in dance for a long time and soon he'll be be able to leave town and train to become a professional. Then he falls in love with Jess, the high school quarterback.

Discussion Questions:

After reading many book reviews, with comments about "this book had so much potential, but it was ruined by the author's lack of understanding of gay teens" and "The entire book is about how Ian isn't a stereotypical gay dancer. And he tells us this over and over. And...that's all that happens. There's a secret kiss with a football player but it has to be kept a secret because the stereotypical football players would hate if their star was gay", I still haven't been able to decide if I like this book  because of it's honesty or disliked this book because I couldn't relate to Ian's character.

• Did you feel that this book stereotyped young, gay  male teens with the assumption that Ian  was a dancer, ergo he must be gay?
• How did you feel about the characters in the book?  Is this a a true depiction of Ian, his lifestyle, his friends, a homophobic society?