Learning the Ropes
3.5/5
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About this ebook
Monique Polak
Monique Polak is the author of more than thirty books for young people. She is the three-time winner of the Quebec Writers' Federation Prize for Children's and YA Literature for her novels Hate Mail, What World is Left and Room for One More. In addition to teaching at Marianopolis College in Montreal, Monique is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in Maclean's Magazine, the Montreal Gazette and other Postmedia newspapers. She is also a columnist on ICI Radio-Canada's Plus on est de fous, plus on lit! In 2016, Monique was the CBC/Quebec Writers' Federation inaugural writer-in-residence. Monique lives in Montreal.
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Reviews for Learning the Ropes
17 ratings10 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Learning the Ropes is an interesting read, however, for me it failed to really spark my interest. Despite the author doing a good job describing the circus, and the challenges being in the circus can bring - which includes some unhealthy competition, the book mostly fell flat for me. I think this book would be much more appreciated by a youngster, in middle school, perhaps fascinated by aerialists, or the circus. For me, it did not have enough substance, but was an enjoyable enough read.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Working in a library I am always asked for suggestions of a good tale to be told. Learning the Ropes has its issues but provides a young adult a good glimpse of the challenges of circus performing. The character development could use some work, the dialogue could be punched up a bit but overall it was a quick read and enjoyable.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5YA fiction can be for anyone. Even though the main characters are young, the premise of the story and what the characters go through can grip the reader no matter the age. That's this book to a T. Mandy is teen and has dreamed of being a performer in the circus pretty much her whole life. She gets her chance to go to Circus Camp at the prestigious Montreal Circus College for two weeks one summer. It's a chance to shine and perhaps get selected to actually attend Circus college one day.The book is what it's like to be a teen. There is competition, self-doubt, friendship, jealousy, back-biting, how to work hard, when to listen...it's all here. In a circus atmosphere. The book moves quickly in all that it takes place in a two week timeframe. I enjoyed it and I know many other readers will too. I look forward to finding more books by the author (this # 17 she's written).Definite recommend.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I got Learning The Ropes through LibraryThing and I have to admit, I was engrossed by the cover but not so much the synopsis. Everyone knows that if I am going to read a book, it better have a romance and this book doesn't have romance so I thought "I might not enjoy this." Well, let me tell you that I was completely wrong! I really enjoyed reading this story so much. It is very short and light and definitely taught me a few things that I will not be trying or I will end up in a wheelchair for life.The story starts with Mandy, a rope climber, at an airport about to leave for Montreal Circus College's Summer Circus Camp. Each year, only twenty-five teenagers from around the world are accepted into this prestigious program. Mandy needs to stand out in order to get into MCC because only the best go to the summer camp.Of course, in camps like this one, there will be rivals and in this case, Genevieve, an aerialist, is against Mandy. Why? Because only one of them will get into Montreal Circus College.What I really, really liked about this story was the way it was written and how direct Monique was. I loved that I could see everything in my mind so vividly and I felt as if I was a part of the story. You see, normally when there's a book that involves ballet or these difficult techniques, it is very hard for someone to picture them unless the reader has participated in doing some of the techniques. I have only been in gymnastics and that was a long time ago (when I had MySpace...loooong time ago, I tell you) so I don't really remember much.Monique described everything on point and everything was so understandable. I felt like I was watching everything from the stands, as if I was really in the public watching everything unfold. Now that, has never happened to me before, to the point where I could understand and imagine it.This book is for ages 11-14 but I honestly think everyone can read it and enjoy it :)
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mandy had dreamed of becoming a circus aerialist and specializing in rope climbing. She is accepted in the Montreal Circus College summer program, where she is thrown in with other circus hopefuls. This was a short and quick book. It will be very appealing to teenagers and pre-teens. Overall, an easy read.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Learning the Ropes was a very easy read. However, that isn't always a good thing. I felt like this book was just missing on every level for me. The characters were shallow and underdeveloped, the story line seemed to have little arc and I just didn't get a feeling of liking or even disliking the characters. At only a 158 pages I suppose you have to stay on the surface of the story, but I felt like this was a book that had so many possibilities that were never explored. When you think of the circus, you think excitement, hard work, bright lights and amazing people. This book left me feeling underwhelmed and a bit bored. I think there is a story to be written in this book, but it needed a bit more flushing out.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This book was a nice, quick read. It's written in first person present, which is not my favorite style of writing, so that's part of why I only gave it three stars. Also, it feels like the main character concentrates on differences more than on people and that makes it really hard to sympathize with her. She's so busy pushing people into boxes, you almost long for a different perspective. The circus aspects are not well explained for the lay-person, either. However, the book contains a lot of good lessons about generosity and kindness and hurt in a fairly short period of time. It's good, but it doesn't quite make it to great.B- (good lessons, quick read; unsatisfying character interactions, poorly explained terminology)
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Pretty good, short read. I finished it in a couple hours and enjoyed it. I kind of wanted more, and wanted to hear more about the girls' friendship. Fun if you like Cirques or like learning about how the performers do their acts.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5As an older person, I am not sure I am the best to review a book meant for young people . However, I still can recognize a good read when I read it. I think this book has all the elements of a good story. It is well written and interesting. I enjoyed so much learning a bit about circus acts especially aerial / rope. I have seen a few Cirque shows and they are totally amazing to watch. I am sure scores of young people would enjoy this inside track into what it is like to learn to be in the circus.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mandy flies from Vancouver to Montreal to attend a two-week circus camp at the Montreal Circus College. Mandy is an aerialist. She climbs rope. “There will probably only be a spot at the Montreal Circus College for one aerialist. And it had better be me.” (6) This is the only YA book I’ve read about a teen wanting to be in a modern circus, but it's not an entirely entrancing novel. Received from publisher Orca Book & Library Thing in return for a review 1/15/15, finished 1/21/15.
Book preview
Learning the Ropes - Monique Polak
Acknowledgments
]>
One
A pile of suitcases blocks my way to the check-in counter.
Some people!
a woman in front of me mutters—loud enough for the couple who have left their suitcases in our way to hear. The woman tugs on her little boy’s hand and leads him around the suitcases. They duck under the cord (it’s easy for the boy, but the woman groans) and get back in line.
I don’t mind the suitcases. For me, they’re something to play with.
I toss my backpack over them. It lands with a small thud on the other side. I plant the heel of my hand on the top suitcase, nice and steady. Then I get a little bounce going in my knees, and I flip into a handstand. Which takes me right over the suitcases.
The boy’s mouth falls open.
He giggles when I turn to him and take a bow.
Mom has ducked under the cord. That’s my girl, always putting on a show,
she says to no one in particular, but not unkindly.
Dad hasn’t come to Vancouver International Airport to see me off. He’s against my going to circus camp in Montreal. He’s against all things circus. You could get hurt, Mandy, and you know it. Accidents happen. Think about what happened to your grandpa. Are you even listening, Mandy?
Mom’s the one paying for circus camp, not to mention airfare and my room and board. She says a person needs to follow her dreams, even if there’s a risk involved. Something tells me Mom’s dream wasn’t to do the billing for Dad’s engineering company.
When I’m done checking in, I can feel Mom giving me a final look-over. I’m wearing my usual—comfortable jeans and a soft, black T-shirt. You’re looking at me like I’m a package you’re about to put in the mail,
I tell Mom.
She gives me a fierce hug. A precious package,
she whispers. Text me as soon as you land.
Two weeks will be the longest I’ve ever been away from home.
Thanks, Mom. For everything.
Don’t be angry at your dad,
she says into my ear. You know how hard this is for him.
The hug ends, and we’re trying not to cry. Then we both gulp at the same time, which makes us laugh.
Mom rests her hand on my shoulder. Get outta here, will ya?
* * *
I’m too excited to pay attention as the flight attendant explains the emergency exits. In about six hours, I, Mandy Campbell, will be at the Montreal Circus College’s Summer Circus Camp. Each year, only twenty-five teenagers from around the world are accepted into this prestigious program. If that sounds like an ad, it’s because I memorized it from the brochure.
I need to stand out at circus camp. If I do, it’ll improve my chances of being accepted into the Montreal Circus College. If I make it into MCC and stand out there, chances are good I’ll get a job with a real circus, maybe even Cirque de la Lune, the greatest, most famous circus ever.
Somewhere over the Rocky Mountains, I doze off. I dream I’m climbing the old oak tree in our backyard in North Vancouver. My arms and legs work together like an engine, propelling me up the trunk. When I reach the top, all I can see is blue sky—and the window to the attic, where my dad’s home office is. The screen is open to let in the fresh air. Dad is hunched over his computer. Daddy!
I call. Look at me!
But he won’t look up.
Are you all right, dear?
the woman sitting next to me asks. I can feel her staring at my legs. I’ve fallen asleep with them up in the air, resting on the back of the seat in front of me.
I’m fine. Thanks.
I lower my legs, crossing them at the ankle the way my seat partner probably expects me to.
The flight attendant comes rattling down the aisle with the beverages cart. I’m reaching for my soda water when I notice a dark-haired girl in the window seat across the aisle. She’s fallen asleep too. Her legs are crossed in her lap, and her head has dropped so low it nearly skims the floor.
She’s either some kind of double-jointed yogi or she’s headed for circus camp too.
* * *
When I exit through the glass doors of Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, I spot a small woman with blond hair holding up a sign that says MCC Summer Circus Camp. The girl from the airplane is behind me, and we’re both waving to the woman with the sign.
The woman’s name is Suzanne. I’d guess from her muscular build that she’s done circus too. Mandy? Genevieve?
she says, looking from one of us to the other as if she is trying to figure out who’s who. Welcome to Montreal. Have you two already met?
Genevieve is from Seattle. She’s wearing a hot-pink crop-top and skintight yoga pants, not to mention way too much makeup for a plane ride. Her black eyeliner sweeps up at the outer corners of her eyes, and she must have on three coats of pink lip gloss.
I get a small pang in my chest when Genevieve tells me she’s an aerialist too. I could use a friend—so what if she wears too much makeup and I don’t touch the stuff?—but I also know how competitive circus camp is going to be. There will probably only be a spot at the Montreal Circus College for one star aerialist. And it had better be me.
Genevieve flips her long dark hair back. I do tissu,
she says.
Most girls who are aerialists do tissu, the circus term for aerial fabric.
For a second, Genevieve’s eyes stay on my jeans. I can feel her judging me. I climb rope,
I tell her. If my hair were long enough, I’d flip it the way she keeps flipping hers. I can’t help feeling superior. Sure, tissu is pretty and feminine—like Genevieve—but it’s a cliché in the circus world.
Rope is so much cooler.
]>
Two
My breath catches in my throat when Suzanne exits from the highway onto a street called Iberville. There, right in front of me, taking up nearly the whole front window of the van, is a giant blue-and-yellow-striped tent—the big top—and next to it, the Cirque de la Lune headquarters, the round building where Cirque performers train. I’ve seen this view in the brochure and on the Internet a thousand times, but now I’m here. I’ve arrived. I blink—twice—just to make sure this is really happening.
Wow,
Genevieve says, which is how I know she feels the same way.
Suzanne is the camp director. Camp takes place in the Montreal Circus College building. Like everything else on this block in Montreal’s north end, it’s big, shiny and new. Tall tinted windows make it impossible to see what’s happening inside. That’s because everyone is curious about the circus and what we do in here,
Suzanne tells us.
Yeah, I think, everyone except my dad.
There’s a concrete terrace outside the MCC building. Suzanne explains that there’ll be a barbecue there tomorrow night to celebrate the start of camp.
After we get our security passes, Suzanne takes us up to the third floor, where the dorms are. For the next two weeks, a dozen girls will share one large bright room—and two bathrooms.
Bunk beds line the walls. Since you’re both climbers, I’m guessing you’ll want the top bunks,
Suzanne says. Backpacks and suitcases go under the bottom bunks. We need to be sure there’s room to walk. Let me show you the bathrooms.
There’s so much to see—la palestre, the giant training studio where we’ll have some of our classes and where we’ll perform on the last day of circus camp; the smaller studios; the gleaming cafeteria where we’ll have most of our meals. Finally, I realize I’ve forgotten to text my mom.
Sorry, Mom, I write to her. Landed safe. Amazing here. Love u.
I nearly add Say hi to Dad for me, but