Sixteen-year-old Sapho is a Greek-Australian schoolgirl and part-time dancer in the cheerleading squad of the local professional basketball team. After receiving a hoax Valentine’s Day card, she embarks on a quest to get even with the perpetrator. Sapho discovers that the author of the card, her classmate Jay, has a crush on her and is also a keen basketballer. Jay and Sapho’s naïve and clumsy attempts at courtship result in a snowballing battle of oneupmanship, which endangers their friendship and affects both their performances on the basketball court. Step Up and Dance is a featherweight teen drama that retains a sense of realism, and avoids the melodramatic and improbable plot devices that often render such books unbelievable and frustrating. The non-confrontational, coy and gradual manner in which Sapho and her parents deal with their overprotectiveness reflects the author’s restraint. Thalia Kalkipsakis touches on many themes without labouring them, and teenage girls will readily identify with how Sapho reluctantly copes with adolescent challenges. This effortless read will satisfy unenthusiastic readers and also good readers wanting a light diversion.

Gavin Jones is the literature librarian at Melbourne Girls Grammar

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