Fourteen year old, Dani Spevak lives and breathes dance so she's thrilled when her parents agree to let her enrol at a performing arts boarding school. But while she quickly makes friends, she also gains enemies when she manages to win a spot on a hit TV dance show that's being filmed on campus. And when her spot on the TV show is threatened by ruin it's up to Dani and her friends to get to the bottom of the sabotage.

I loved the premise of this more than I actually liked the execution. Dani and her friends are young, shallow and kind of annoying. Dani spends most of her time worrying about her weight, skipping meals and thinking about boys. In between those things, her and her friends have a few thoughts about who could have a motive for sabotage and looking for clues the police completely missed. I can forgive the latter because it's a YA. The worrying about her weight and skipping meals though is much harder to forgive.

Yes, her friends worry and eventually confront her (when she's already stumbled onto their thoughts), yes her roommate's sister died from an eating disorder and yes, by the end of the novel, Dani agrees to commit to being healthy and attend nutrition classes. But somehow the gravity surrounding eating disorders is not adequately conveyed. The concern about her eating habits come too little, too late and while I may be able to accept it in an adult book - it's not okay in YA. At least not in YA closer towards the tween spot on the spectrum.

There were 232 pages of normalising her eating habits before the issue of an eating disorder came up. There's only 274 pages in the book. Furthermore when she is confronted she spends like five minutes thinking about it and then just decides to be better. Eating disorders are not that simple. It's an addiction and it's something you have to consistently confront over and over again in order to recover from. To suggest that anyone can overcome not eating as simple as just deciding not to is ridiculous and extremely misleading. If you have an eating disorder, seek help.

I also didn't like that Dani and her friends are excessively mean and judgemental of others. The first thing Dani thinks about her new roommate is that she's "a complete waste of space." There were also comments about sixteen year old girls getting boob jobs and putting out on first dates. Sure there are plenty of terrible people with terrible opinions in the world - but I don't think tween YA is where they should be.

One thing I did like though was Dani's ability to save herself. I loved the part where Dani battements Nick down. I liked that she was competent and fierce when it came to saving herself.

Her first thought when in danger is she has to get out of there. She drops her purse, kicks of her high heels and runs. I loved that. It was the most practical she'd been the entire book. But when she can't escape, she looks to other avenues and I love that when she does fight, she's brutal. She gives no quarter and it's hilarious. Exactly what you're supposed to do but also awesome.

So it wasn't without problems but it was readable. 2 stars. ( )

Dani Spevak wants nothing more than to dance, so when she finally convinces her parents to allow her to attend Mountain Shadows Academy in Arizona, she's thrilled. Even better, when she auditions to participate in Teen Celebrity Dance Off, she lands a part dancing with teen sensation Nick Galliano. Life couldn't be much better...except for the jealous other students, the petition to shut down the show, and the ugly mishaps that keep putting dancers in the hospital. Now Dani and her new friends are snooping around to see if they can catch the saboteur - who seems to be intent on catching Dani...

Codename: Dancer was a quick, fun read following a bunch of dance students as they switch their usual toe shoes for ballroom and billed (not inaccurately) as "a Nancy Drew in toe shoes". The scenes of dancing and auditioning are lovely (though I would have liked a description or two more of regular class as well) and intriguing and Dani's chemistry with Nick is great fun. The mystery, on the other hand, is very obvious (although perhaps not unlike a Nancy Drew) and the villain very much a moustache-twirler with a large dose of crazy. In addition, towards the end of the book, the author shoehorns in an "issue" which is rather quickly dealt with (though thankfully not fully dismissed and never heard from again). While important and relevant, as its placed, its development felt inorganic.

And while I understand that Dani requires a certain amount of independence for the story to work, the amount of sabotage (including a bomb scare!) that happens which then never gets communicated to her parents just seemed hopelessly unlikely - not to mention that, while realistic, I found Dani's whining that she could take care of herself and investigate a bomb at age 14 irritating.

All told, this was a read I tore through in the space of an afternoon (it's quite short), and while I'm not itching to read the next one, I may pick it up in due course - there's dancing involved, after all!

Also posted at A Hoyden's Look at Literature. ( )

For a young adult mystery novel it was cute. I found the characters were really cut out and defined but even at moments they had their own flaws. It was something I thought would be good for young girls to read the romance scenes were not over steamy or to graphic leaving it to be rather a good young adult novel. Definately something I will suggest for my daughter once she gets a little older to read it. I found myself laughing in some parts and angry in others at the right moments you should be feeling the emotion and drive of the characters. However the end was a little predictable and that was my only down fall for the book. But once again as I stated it's a great book for a young adult.

Dani or Daniela must find out who is sabotaging the TV show that has come to film on her school campus after only a few of the girls win in the audition the turmoil around her and her like of two boys seems to ruffle her better judgement on both of them. Leaving one blamed even in his innocence and the other innocent only to be proven guilty. Jealousy from a rival dancer also fuels the fires of mystery as more and more becomes crashing to a dangerous ending and almost finale for them all.

Away from home, surrounded by people she is unsure to trust, Dani eventually finds out who her friends are and who her enemies are in the end you realize that good friends are always hard to find but great once you have them. ( )

I'm a fan of dance! Really I watch So You Think You Can Dance every week. LOL. Of course that doesn't make me an expert but anything dance related appeals to me.

I instantly fell in love with Dani. Maybe it's because my daughters name is Dani or just because the character has some spunk to her. I felt that her emotions were real and the way she reacted to situations would be the same as most teenage girls today. Her desire to fit in and be able to solve the crime on her own had me wondering what she would do next.

I love the plot of this story. I'm a huge fan of dance and reality shows. Take 2 of my favorite things and put them into one and I'm all about it. There were several twists and turns and possible who done its. I will admit that I made a guess towards the beginning of who was behind all the sabotage and I turned out to be right. However I didn't know why until the end and was actually surprised. So if you like mystery and some near death experiences than this book is for you. If not for you than at least your teenage daughter :)

I can't wait to read the next book in the series that is due out this fall. Amanda Brice did an excellent job of portraying the life of a teenage girl who is easily star struck. I fell in love with her characters and found myself wanting more. I give this book 4/5 stars. ( )

Codename: Dancer is a light, fun young adult mystery that engages you from page one! Dani is such a vibrant character that she leaps right off the pages and into your heart. I absolutely loved the way Ms. Brice expertly incorporated the dance elements into this book. She captures all the essential elements of a teenage girl's first experience with true independence while giving the reader a whodunit with plenty of twists, turns and action. If you love to be entertained, I guarantee that you'll find Codename: Dancer a delightful read. I can't wait for the further adventures of Dani Spevak! ( )