Hope in a ballet shoe - Michaela DePrince

In Sierra Leone, Mabinty Bangura - 'a girl with skin like the leopard'- is cherished and educated by her parents. Then the civil war rips her family apart: her father is murdered by rebels, and her mother sickens and dies. At just four years old, she is sent to an orphanage, where daily life can be harsh, and the violence outside presses ever closer. But one day, the Harmattan winds blow a magazine against the gates - its cover photograph showing a beautiful ballerina. Mabinty declares that, someday, she will dance like this lady, and be as happy...