I thought it was going to be impossible to beat A Sky Painted Gold, but Laura Wood has achieved the almost impossible: a perfect second novel that compliments the first in total harmony, whilst having a style and charm that is completely its own. With their new friends gleefully setting the rules for their fling, Bea and Ben can agree on one thing at least: they absolutely, positively will not, cannot fall in love… APA style: Under a Dancing Star.. (n.d.) >The Free Library. (2014). Retrieved Nov 26 2023 from https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Under+a+Dancing+Star.-a0609890846 He is right, of course, and for a second, I catch a glimpse of what it might be like to be an artist, just a little of what they are doing here. And the feeling is delicious.” A long, hot summer of kisses and mischief unfolds – but storm clouds are gathering across Europe, and home is calling. Every summer has to end – but for Bea, this might be just the beginning.

Her dialogue is contrived and her frequent outrageous sex references as a means to differentiate her from her peers are quite frankly wince-inducing. I really liked the theme following the artists in and out of Bea’s Uncle’s house. It added another layer to the story and also helped to contribute to Bea’s passions being truly unearthed. This book is very much about finding yourself, having a fleeting adventure and learning a new approach to life. After losing his family to “the greatest flood Rome has ever known,” skilled white Italian swimmer Leo Danieli would never have expected that in his darkest moment he would be drafted by the European Space Agency to attend the International Space Training Camp, where teens will train to terraform and colonize Jupiter’s moon Europa for human settlement. California native Naomi Ardalan, a second-generation Iranian-American, has also been chosen for her expertise in science and technology. During a period of violent climate change worldwide, Earth’s governments are desperate to draft teens for a space mission for which they have only a few weeks in which to prepare. Twenty-four teen finalists, many orphaned by cataclysmic natural disasters, have been chosen from all over the world to compete for this space colonization mission. Warnings come to Leo and Naomi that there is a more sinister aspect to this mission, especially after things go tragically awry with other candidates during the training. The relationship that develops between Naomi and Leo feels forced, as if their meeting necessitates speedy deployment of a romantic cliché. The use of predictable plot devices, along with the fundamentally ludicrous premise, undermines any believability that would make a reader invest in such an elaborate space journey. Constrained by her life in England, aspiring natural historian Bea constantly battles her parents’ attempts to marry her off: “As far as my parents are concerned, daughters aren’t a terribly useful asset. I’m not supposed to go out in the world and actually do things.” But being “too big, too loud, too clever – too much”, Bea has her own ideas about her future, which she’s able to embrace when she’s sent to stay with her wealthy uncle in Italy and discovers with glee that “things at Villa di Stelle might not be so respectable after all.”

About Laura Wood

Chicago style: The Free Library. S.v. Under a Dancing Star.." Retrieved Nov 26 2023 from https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Under+a+Dancing+Star.-a0609890846

I really hope Wood is writing another YA hist fic along the same lines as these two, just so next summer will be even more wonderful.I read Laura Wood's debut YA, A Sky Painted Gold, earlier in 2019 and fell in love with it. It was my perfect idea of a book: historical fiction, with a romance to die for and a female heroine it was impossible not to fall in love with. Laura Wood even started my love for Eva Ibbotson's books and I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, which I'll forever be grateful for. As far as my parents are concerned, daughters aren't terribly useful asset. I’m not supposed to go out into the world and actually do things.They’d like me to be more… ornamental. I’m just too much for them. Too big, too loud, too clever.'

MLA style: "Under a Dancing Star.." The Free Library. 2019 The School Library Association 26 Nov. 2023 https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Under+a+Dancing+Star.-a0609890846 Inspired by Much Ado About Nothing, with a heroine reminiscent of Sybil from Downton Abbey and a lazy Italian summer setting evoking other works such as Call Me By Your Name, UNDER A DANCING STAR is a beautiful novel about a girl finding her place in the world and deciding to take control of her life and who she wants to be. (She also falls in love with a very handsome artist along the way.) With their new friends gleefully setting the rules for their fling, Bea and Ben can agree on one thing at least: they absolutely, positively will not, cannot fall in love...Somehow, it took me so long to get into this book, scared that it wouldn’t do justice to one of my favourite plays of all time. Boy was I wrong : I devoured this book like no book before. PRIASE FOR UNDER A DANCING STAR “Taking its inspiration from Much Ado About Nothing, Laura Wood’s YA novel is a heady exploration of first love and self-discovery… a thoroughly charming and entertaining love story with captivating central characters.” – Books For Keeps “Rapturously romantic, this dazzling novel sees a bright young woman experience unfettered Bohemianism during a life-changing summer.” - LoveReading 4 Kids So, it's safe to say, I was a tiny bit excited to read Under a Dancing Star. And by a tiny bit, I mean "I thought about reading it at least five times a day, without fail, every day." It's been my most-anticipated release of 2019, especially as it, too, sounded like my perfect idea of a book: a Much Ado About Nothing re-telling (my favourite Shakespeare play), set during Italy in the 1930's. Amazing. The setting is sumptuous and evocative. If you’ve seen the 1990s film adaptation of Much Ado directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring him and Emma Thompson as the eventual couple then you will absolutely adore Under a Dancing Star as it shares much the same feeling and mood. Rather than the play being framed around soldiers coming home from the wars, this novel is instead centred around a group of artists (writers, painters, sculptors etc.) who converge on the villa of Bea’s bohemian uncle Leo, his artsy fiancée Filomena, and his daughter Hero, for the summer in the hopes of feeling inspired and encouraged to pursue their various art forms, to be celebrated in an exhibition at the end of the summer.

A transgender boy starting over at a new school falls hard for a popular cheerleader with a reputation to protect in this debut. This is it. This is them before Much Ado About Nothing. This is their perfect and wonderful summertime romance experience. Under a Dancing Star is a beautiful Much Ado About Nothing retelling set over a summer in Italy over the 1930’s. I don’t know why I put off reading this book until now because honestly, it was stunning and beautiful! I am in head-over-heels in love with Laura Wood’s YA historical fiction. Last year I fell in love with 1920s Cornwall in A SKY PAINTED GOLD, and this year I was whisked away to sun-swept Tuscany in the 1930s. It’s just so beautiful.’ I try to find the words. “Sitting underneath the bougainvillea and all the stars, eating this food and being with you. It’s… it’s… almost too much. If I wasn’t seeing it myself I wouldn’t believe such a place was real.’I really liked the theme following the artists in and out of Bea's Uncle's house. It added another layer to the story and also helped to contribute to Bea's passions being truly unearthed. This book is very much about finding yourself, having a fleeting adventure and learning a new approach to life. A long, hot summer of kisses and mischief unfolds - but storm clouds are gathering across Europe, and home is calling. Every summer has to end - but for Bea, this might be just the beginning. About This Edition ISBN: Set in the 1930s and inspired by Much Ado About Nothing, this thrilling feast of coming-of-age edginess is giddy with the glamour of freethinking artists, and tingles with romantic tension. The romance? Gosh. As I mentioned, this is certainly marketed as guilty pleasure summer reading, but I found the romance far too saccahrine, straying into unnecessary cliche. Bonding experiences include (but are not restricted to) multiple incidents of spilling paint over one another/ falling on top of one another in paint etc. What a hoot! It made my toes curl.