REENI'S TURN

Eleven year-old Reeni’s world is changing. Her star-of-the-senior-class, college-bound sister has no time for her, sixth grade is full of girls into makeup and diets and crushes, and the still, small voice she discovered at Yom Kippur services seems to tell Reeni it’s time to become more than a shy girl in the shadows.   But when she commits to dancing a solo for her retiring ballet teacher’s final recital, her lifelong fear of performing expands along with her newly-changing body. Lunch friends convince Reeni that a diet will give her courage and self-confidence, but the diet wreaks havoc with Reeni’s life. She lies to her parents, breaks up with her best friend, and loses focus on school work and dance.  Reeni is torn between her longing to dance and her fear and self-consciousness. She faces a painful choice: should she break her commitment to perform the solo and quit dance? Or might she have hidden strengths that could help her come out of the shadows and become the girl she wants to be?