Ellie in First Position - Brian Freschi - ★★.¼

AUTHOR: Brian Freschi

ILLUSTRATOR: Elena Triolo

GENRE: Middle-grade Graphic Novel

PUBLICATION DATE: October 3, 2023

RATING: 2.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: A middle-grade graphic novel about a girl who wants to dance but isn’t allowed to. A sweet story, but needed more depth. The exploration is too surface-level, even for a middle-grade read.

Plot Preview:

After moving, Ellie struggles to find friends in her new class. Her only buddy is Chloe, her bestie from before. Ellie’s mom suggests that she join a sports team to make friends, but try as she may, Ellie isn’t made for sports. But when she sees a ballet movie and later a ballet performance, the idea of training in ballet sparks in her head. But Mom doesn’t consider ballet a sport. Will Ellie be able to fulfil her dream of becoming a ballerina? (You know the answer to that one!)

This graphic novel was originally published in Italian in 2021 under the title ‘Elettra’. This English translation was published in October 2023.

As I enjoy graphic novels and middle grade fiction, that cutie on the cover ensured that I would grab this book as soon as I could. At the surface level, the story is outstanding. However, the execution left me with mixed feelings. For most of the book, we get a lot of the whats but hardly any whys.

We know that Ellie’s family has shifted to a new house, which is why she has joined a new school. But why is her father in another city? How come Chloe (who is such an awesome character, btw!! I loved her!) is in the same new school as her? How does she know Chloe (Cousin? Mom’s friend’s daughter? Old school friend? Old neighbour?) How can Ellie and her brother visit their father so often if he is in another city? Are the parents separated or merely working in different locations? Multiple questions that are left unanswered.

Ellie’s passion is dance, but her mom adamantly refuses to consider ballet training, instead forcing her daughter to try out a great variety of sports to see what she enjoyed. While this is sadly realistic for many children, we never know why Ellie’s mother dislikes dance so much. This gap in our knowhow is a major issue as it is the foundation of the entire book. Her own husband, Ellie’s father, is a musician, so is that a factor in her resistance towards dance? No idea. Strangely, Ellie doesn’t ask her mother ‘Why?” except at the very end. Can you believe a child not asking “But why?” when something is denied them? The turnaround in the mother’s opinion is also abrupt, with her going from No to Yes within 3-4 panels.

The cover and the title suggest that ballet gets a prime position in the plot. But most of the scenes don’t even have ballet, directly or indirectly. The story is more about what Ellie does before she finally gets to ballet. Her forced attempts at various sports feel repetitive after a point. There are some minor plot arcs that don’t contribute to the overall story. We also have the typical school bully track; no novelty in it at all. I wish the story had been more focussed.

The translation seemed a bit iffy in places, though I am not sure if it is the translation that goofed up or the writing itself. The plot flow also seemed to have few gaps. The transition between scenes isn’t smooth, further felt because of the lack of chapter markings/title. There is also much passage of time over the course of the story, which is hinted at subtly through the change in seasonal outfits. Not sure how many middle-graders will realise the long timespan of the story as there are no major time clues provided.

There are some themes that I genuinely liked in this graphic novel. The resistance to sports (as a non-sporty person throughout my life, I felt Ellie’s pain during PE!), the passion for an art form, the need for regular practice, and the importance of pursuing what you love to do instead of what you have to do. But it also contained several ideas I don’t like seeing in MG fiction: kids lying to their parents, parents being dominant and aggressive without any reason provided, mother and father having no communication, and the crush on a classmate. What bugged me the most is that Ellie’s dad knew of her dancing dreams, but instead of speaking to her mom directly and sorting out the issue, he encourages Ellie to dance, thereby defying her mother. There’s no conversation shown between the parents at all.

The art is adorable. Ellie’s eyes are so big and expressive! I loved those long gravity-defying ponytails. Chloe was a doll! I simply adored her chubby cheeks and fancy hairstyles. It was also refreshing to see a plus-sized child character being drawn without any comments about her weight. There’s also a pigeon who seems to have its own parallel narrative in the background.

Basically, I did like the intent and the illustrations of this book, but I would have enjoyed it far better had the characters been sketched with greater depth and had the plot not had so many logical gaps. Ellie is cute, and Chloe is cuter still, but they don’t help in saving the meandrous and slow-moving plot.

My thanks to Marble Press for a complimentary copy of “Ellie in First Position”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Sorry this didn’t work out better.