Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina

Being a ballerina, I was familiar with this story, and was so excited about the book coming out. Half way thru and it's amazing. Definitely recommend, even if you don't know much about ballet and the grueling world it is, it's a solid read for anyone.

I loved this inspirational, perseverance and self respecting life experience shared by Miss Deprince. "Be true to yourself", thank you for sharing such a life giving, integrity driven, and hope filled life story.

A truly inspiring story of a young girl following her dream of putting her horrible past behind her and having the hope and courage to attain her dream of becoming an African American classical ballet dancer.

This was an excellent book. I would recommend it to anyone who loves dance, Africa, history, biographies and being inspired by others. If you think you've had a tough life, maybe you should read her story.

This is an EXCELLENT book. The only warning I would give is that there is very graphic material about the war Michaela experienced that would be difficult for young children to process. Parents need to read it first and determine if it's appropriate for their child. Excellent reading, though.

A very strong girl, who knew what she wanted very early in life....and it started with her birth parents who insisted that she should write an read at an early age....She had a rough start....but then was adopted by American couple with a big loving heart for more children....And next came the American dream....

This is an EXCELLENT book. The only warning I would give is that there is very graphic material about the war Michaela experienced that would be difficult for young children to process. Parents need to read it first and determine if it's appropriate for their child. Excellent reading, though.

A very strong girl, who knew what she wanted very early in life....and it started with her birth parents who insisted that she should write an read at an early age....She had a rough start....but then was adopted by American couple with a big loving heart for more children....And next came the American dream....

"It seems that just yesterday I was an orphan child, a small, dirty-faced pikin – hungry, frightened, and clinging for dear life to a dream of becoming a ballerina." Undoubtedly, Michaela DePrince can make a perplexing statement like that because she lived it. That said, TAKING FLIGHT is DePrince's remarkable story from war survivor to première danseuse.

One may want to believe that DePrince's first-person narrative is a work of fiction. The harrowing account of her childhood is close to reading something straight out of the pages of a Stephen King novel. Yet the reality is that DePrince experienced things that no person should ever have to face. Seen through the eyes of a child, DePrince candidly shares how she loses her loving and supportive family, witnesses the horrific actions of the revolutionary rebels (known as "debils"), and is sent to an orphanage --- all at the tender age of three. Serendipitously, amid dreadful living conditions, DePrince meets a girl who later would become her sister, and encounters a dust storm that leads her to a life-changing magazine picture.

Adopted into a loving and caring family, DePrince's transition from a war-torn country to The American Dream is nothing less than a miracle. As glorious as it is to enjoy the sudden comforts of a warm bed, clean clothes and an overabundance of food, DePrince does not mince words when she explains that her past didn't suddenly disappear as she acclimated to her new life in the United States. Aside of nightmares, being around loud-spoken men only served to remind her of the debils, and dogs become synonymous with rabies. In addition, DePrince is confronted with racial discrimination, especially since her parents are white. While she has been able to successfully address this societal issue in her life, DePrince has no tolerance with discrimination in the ballet world.

On the light and very encouraging side of her memoir, DePrince shares her journey to becoming a world-renown ballerina. DePrince's story is not only replete with her many accomplishments, but also the trials and tribulations she has had to face en route to those feats. Of primary importance, DePrince talks about overcoming low self-esteem in regards to vitiligo (which dictionary.com defines as “a skin disorder that is characterized by smooth, white patches on various parts of the body, caused by the loss of the natural pigment”) and her fears connected with going to South Africa.

Powerfully poignant yet incredibly inspiring, TAKING FLIGHT may be earmarked for youth, but adult readers will benefit from and be equally moved by Deprince's eye-opening read.

I first encountered Michaela's story one evening while I was browsing Youtube. Her story was so inspiring and I was pleased to see she had written a book about her life so far. I picked it up from Barnes & Noble and finished it in half a day. Michaela's story is one of the most inspirational I have ever read. From her birth and rough childhood in Sierra Leone, to her struggles growing up, to achieving her dream as a ballerina, you will want to follow her journey from beginning to end. Keep in mind, Michaela is only 22 at this point. I am interested to follow her and see where her career path takes you. She may be the next Misty Copeland! This book is also the perfect length, not too long, not too short, just right to keep you intrigued. Michaela's mother, Elaine, did a wonderful job of taking the pieces of Michaela's story and putting it together. I will be loaning the book to my Mom to read as well. For anyone of any age who is looking for a wonderful inspirational coming of age story, I would highly recommend this book.

Originally reviewed for YA Books Central: [...]

TAKING FLIGHT is both potent and potentially worldview-expanding. Whether you’re interested in ballet or not, this YA memoir is a stirring must-read.

Let me start out by saying that this reader, personally, has no particular interest in dancing of any kind. But when I came across a news article several years ago detailing some of Michaela DePrince’s life, I was immediately drawn in. Her background and force of personality were uniquely captivating, and her physical ability was ethereal. I had to know more about her. This memoir provided exactly the resource I was hoping for to that end.

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Micheala DePrince’s life story begins in a war-torn Sierra Leone—a brilliant, headstrong child born to doting parents who are in the severe cultural minority in regard to their value for the female gender. Tragically losing both of her parents proves to be only the beginning of her hardships. Micheala’s spotted skin pigmentation marks her as a “devil child” and she suffers tremendous abuses at the hands of cruel and superstitious caretakers—beginning with her own uncle and continuing on as she becomes the least-favorite child at the orphanage she is sold to. She somehow survives horrific war violence, trauma, neglect, starvation, disease, abuse, and the brutal misogyny of Sharia Law—before being adopted by a big-hearted American couple at the age of 4. And a chance encounter with a magazine cover (featuring a prima ballerina) becomes an unlikely focalpoint that hones her new life.

Michela DePrince’s mere survival defies all probability. The fact that she has also excelled in drive and discipline to the point where she is currently a renowned classical ballerina with the Dutch National Ballet is beyond inspiring—bordering on the miraculous.

DePrince’s writing is strong, straightforward, and devoid of frills—effective and sometimes blunt in conveyance. She lays out her story like dance steps. Precise and intentional, acknowledging pain without faltering or dwelling on it any longer than necessary. The first 70 pages are dedicated to sharing her pre-adoption childhood, and while the content is often difficult to read, it makes her current triumph all the more sweet. Her challenges don’t end simply because she’s given 1st-world opportunities. Instead they change form—appearing in her initial struggles with adapting to her adoptive country, in the heartbreak of losing a beloved sibling, in the effects of residual PTSD, in her own self-consciousness over her skin condition, and eventually in confronting the many faces and forms of racism in everyday life as well as the realm of professional ballet.

I’ve noted some reviewers take issue with the credibility of DePrince’s memories from the age of 3-4 while she was still in Sierra Leone. But considering she could read and write by age 3 and spoke five languages (thanks to both her biological parents’ attentiveness and the nature of their merchant livelihood), the degree of trauma she endured, and her exceedingly advanced talent and aptitude in spite of all odds, this reader can’t see any reason to find fault with her recollections. If anyone is a clear exception to the norm, it is this astounding young woman.

Highly Recommended For: Anyone and everyone.
Don’t wait to get a hold of this book. Come and dance a mile in this girl’s pointe shoes.

DePrince’s story doesn’t merely fly, it soars.

Her parents in her Sierra Leone village loved their daughter Mabinty Bangura but, because of her leopard-like spots from vitiligo, she was shunned and despised by the villagers. Her parents could read, and defied tradition by educating her. They were a happy family until rebels killed her father. Without his support, she and her mother were forced to move into her despotic uncle’s house where they were starved. Within a short time her mother died, and she was abandoned at an orphanage.

Mabinty recounts her hard life in the orphanage, her adoption by an American family at the age of four, and her rebirth under the new name of Michaela. Inspired by a magazine picture, she was determined to become a ballerina. “Taking flight” is Michaela’s story of how she soared past the pain of her early life and into the world of ballet.

Michaela does an excellent job recounting her many trials and tribulations, the love she has for her parents and family members, as well as her successes. However the technical ballerina jargon used to describe various dance moves in several different chapters was very confusing. It would have been helpful to have a glossary, with photographs, of these dance terms at the end of the book.

Recommended for ages 12-18, due to the graphic nature of some of the war crimes described.

Taking Flight is the story of Michaela DePrince and her journey from being an orphan in war-torn Sierra Leone to an aspiring ballerina. Born Mabinty Bangura to an unusual family that allowed, and encouraged, her to learn to read and write, Mabinty's world changed when her father was killed by "debils" (rebels of the Revolutionary United Front) and her mother died of illness shortly after. Taken to an orphanage by an uncaring uncle, Mabinty soon found herself on the run with the other orphans when the debils took over the orphanage, Adopted and taken to the United States with her friend Mia, Mabinty's world changes again - this time for the better - as she becomes Michaela DePrince.

Going into the ballet world, Michaela had not only the disadvantage of being black, but also of having "spotted skin" - depigmentation caused by vitiligo - leaving her with patchy color on her chest and neck. Considered unattractive and worthless in her birthplace of Sierra Leona, Michaela has to learn to ignore the spots and accept herself as she really is - and to hope that others do as well. While Michaela doesn't rant about racism in the ballet world as some books have, it is clear that she struggled with it, being turned down for places in multiple ballet companies and even being denied an audition at one. She does mention the small number of black ballerinas, however it's just part of her and her story, and not the focus. The rest of her difficulties are echoed throughout the ballet world: worrying about money with the cost of pointe shoes and classes, missing her family when away from them for training, and having to give up so much of a "normal" life to achieve her dream of being a ballerina.

The real joy in this book is not only seeing a young woman who survived so much achieve her dream, but also the fact that she really had to work for it. Unlike other ballet memoirs that I have read recently, she didn't have everything handed to he: she wasn't a prodigy, she didn't receive numerous scholarships to every summer intensive and ballet program, and she didn't have someone rich paying for everything for her. She and her adopted parents and siblings had to deal with what they had, even re-dying old costumes to make new ones because it was too expensive to buy a new tutu for every competition. Everything she has, she worked for, and it's wonderful to see that she has gone through everything with grace and enthusiasm, not becoming bitter by her struggles, even with the odds against her. It was also refreshing to see a ballet memoir where the author did not battle an eating disorder - while Michaela mentions that at least one other student discussed "not eating" as a way to keep weight down, Michaela was starved and malnourished as a child and already knew that she didn't want to ever go down that path again.

It's unusual to see a memoir written by someone who is only now Twenty, however Michaela's mother encouraged her to write it, to show that you can overcome "abuse, starvation, pain, and terrible danger" - and that sometimes dreams are worth fighting for.

I'm really glad to see a positive story written by someone who I would view as a great role model for children and young adults, both in the ballet world and outside of it. This is a well-written story and while it may appear a little shallow at times, it is most likely because of the youth of the author. She may have gone through hell for her first four years, but a teenager is still a teenager in a lot of ways, no matter how adult she may seem.

*Library Copy*

Michaela was quite the precocious child. At the age of three she witnessed such horrific atrocities. I had to re-read her time to the orphanage in order to ascertain that she was three years old and not six or seven years old. There were quite a few passages that I had to re-read and remind myself that unfortunately this was not fiction and that a three year old child was exposed to such abuse and graphic violence. Fortunately, Michaela along with her best friend were placed with a loving family and provided both girls with the love, stability and support they needed, encouraging both to pursue their interests. This love would allow Michaela to dance through insecurities due to vitiligo and the asinine and racist remarks about minority dancers and their masculine and non graceful body types. I recommend this memoir along with Misty Copeland, Gabrielle Douglas, Simone Biles and Laurie Hernandez. I find each of their stories to be inspirational and something that everyone interested in the dance and gymnastics should read.

I had recently read Trevor Noah's autobiography and wanted to learn more of Africa's history. Reading about this young, and very contemporary, young woman's struggles taught me further truths about what the situation is like in the Sierra Leone part of Africa. My eyes were opened to the terrible struggles these people had, and still do, just to survive. But it also gave me hope that other young people everywhere who find themselves in difficult situations might find close friends and family and ways to reach their dreams. Now I'm looking for ways to help as well.

The story is captivating: an orphan girl from war-torn Sierra Leone, adopted into an American family, who stays true to her dream of becoming a ballerina. That makes it worth the read, but this memoir suffers from the same lack of depth and experience that many young writers reveal. At the end of the day she remains a very young woman, and her story has a lot of repetitive competitions, school days, and family events. I would certainly love to read Ms. DePrince's memoir as a 50-year-old, when she has seen and done so much more.

This is the story of Mabinty Bangura, an orphan of Sierra Leone's terrible civil war, and how she was adopted by an American family, becoming Michaela DePrince and later a star ballerina. The horror that Michaela and her adopted sisters endured is absolutely heartbreaking and it seems almost impossible for people to overcome that kind of trauma but they did and even went on to excel in their chosen professions.

As amazing as Michaela's story is, I think I am equally in awe of her adoptive parents. Not only did they raise 2 biological children, but eventually adopted a total of 9 additional children (including Michaela), 2 of whom died before Michaela and her sisters were adopted from Africa, 1 after. Most (if not all) of their biological and adopted children had medical and/or emotional issues but they appear to have taken it all in stride, as if sacrifice and heartbreak on that scale is completely normal. I don't think my words can do this book justice but please know that this is a must read story of overcoming the odds and personal triumph. Have the kleenex and international adoption papers ready!

A humble and enjoyable autobiography of a very driven and intelligent athlete. A Young Adult book that easily appeals to adults as well. Michaela's book finds a nice balance between her incredible upbringing without being self-deprecating, and her opportunities in America. The book ends with hope and wisdom. The reader gets the sense that as the book was written Michaela came into herself, both professionally and personally. She is now a young woman and ready for the challenges of a professional ballet career.