Name: Emma and Violette - Volume 1 - One Dream for Three
ISBN: 9791032804933

Jérôme Hamon

Emma and Violette are sisters who share the same dream of attending Paris's most prestigious dance school. Violette passes the first audition with flying colors, but Emma doesn't, and their world comes crashing down. But there may be more than one way to dance through life... This is the revelation at the heart of the first volume of this lively and graceful narrative.

Emma and Violette - Volume 1 - One Dream for Three

Maggie Gordon

I am so thrilled to see more European comics being translated and released in North America! It means I have a whole new world of stories and artists to explore! So exciting :) A Dream for Three is a book about ballet. Specifically, two sisters trying to attain their dream of being professional ballerinas and the struggles that journey entails. They are young, but Emma is struggling given how free-spirited she is. Too individualistic for ballet, as it turns out, which has been her dream since she was little. Emma is torn between feeling heartbroken, but also feeling free. Her dad supports her, but her mother and little sister are angry that she's choosing a different path.

I love stories that really dig into the sacrifices and pain of elite sport and art. We often encourage people to try their hardest and push themselves to attain these dreams, but what does that cost people? I remember being a music kid and practice and competitions ate into my life. Sure, it was fun. But is it worth it to push young people so hard to be excellent at something for such a brief period of their lives? This story does a good job at teasing apart these complexities for a young audience, showing the darker side of such dedication, and the emotional toil that these goals can have on kids and their families. 

I do wish the comic was longer as some additional decompression of the narrative would have been nice. There's a bit of a time skip at the end that I wish we had gotten to see more of. However, with its beautiful art and very contemporary flare, I think A Dream for Three is an excellent book for younger readers that tells both a fun story, but also conveys some important lessons.

Emma and Violette - Volume 1 - One Dream for Three

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