Nancy Drew Diaries 11 – The Red Slippers

The Red Slippers by Carolyn Keene is the eleventh Nancy Drew Diaries book, a mystery for 9 year olds that pulls Nancy back into the ballet world she left behind years ago.

What happens

Bess is feeling a bit lost. Everyone else seems to have their thing and she's not sure what hers is. Then a tall girl bursts into the café and greets Nancy and Bess like old friends (and neither of them has a clue who she is).

It's Maggie Richards from their childhood ballet class. Even at five she was the best dancer in the room. Now she's touring in Sleeping Beauty, and a famous critic might be watching tomorrow's show. One good review from him could make her career.

But somebody has changed the clock on her phone, so she's nearly late for rehearsal (cue a VERY speedy drive across town). Maggie is sure she knows who's behind it. Her understudy Fiona gets the part if Maggie can't go on.

Then the posters for the show turn up with Maggie's face scratched out. And her dressing room gets smashed to pieces. Who wants her off that stage this badly?

There's a shouty choreographer who has a lot riding on the show himself. There's a pianist Bess reckons is dating Maggie. There's a boy whose dad is furious that his son dances at all. Nancy and George track the dad down with a made-up story about a cat stuck up a chimney, which is very silly and works a treat!

Nancy tells the story herself, so you get the theatre from the inside. The warm-ups, the dressing rooms, the corridors behind the stage. Bess's wobble about who she is gives the opening a sweet, real feel, and it's lovely watching her friends rally round.

If you've got a dancer at home, they'll probably recognise how much one big performance can matter. And how scary a strict teacher can be.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

The choreographer yells at his dancers and grabs Maggie by the back of the neck to march her to the stage. Maggie is on a strict diet to stay slim, and she used to be sick with nerves before every recital. It's all in the opening chapters, but a child who's sensitive about food or body shape might want to talk it through.

What to read next

If it's a talented young performer being pushed out of the spotlight that hooks them, Mystery of the Midnight Rider has someone trying to knock a gifted show jumper out of a big competition just as the person who picks the Olympic team is due to watch.