Rose Sees Red by Cecil Castellucci

1982: Rose is a talented ballet student at the High School for the Performing Arts in New York City, (well known for the Fame movie and series). But she is insecure about her talent: everyone around her seems to be a better dancer than she is. Ballet cost her friendship with her best friend Daisy, who someday in their childhood decided she had outgrown ballet. Rose hasn't succeed in making new friends after that.

One night, Rose makes a new friend, who lives in the Bronx appartment building next door. She is Yrena, a girl from Russia, and she is a ballet dancer too. Yrena climbs into Rose's room from the fire escape, asking Rose to help her explore American society for a night. The building of Yrena is constantly surrounded by ''men in suits' from the KGB, as the novel plays in the time of the cold war between the Russia and America.
But Rose really fiends a great friend in Yrena and vice versa, and both girls have a great time going out all night in NYC, but then Yrena has to go back to Russia..

Rose Sees Red is a great light read, a bit less edgy then I'm used of Cecil Castellucci. But I liked it, because the scene of the book is in 1982 (the year I was born), its about ballet and  (which I danced for a long time) and its set in New York (my favorite city on the planet). And I really recognized the trouble of making new friends when your best friends dumps you suddenly and how harsh that can be.

It was very well written and a quick read, I finished it in less than a day.It was realistic, even if you're don't know much about the cold war period, Cecil Castellucci does a great job of not making it too difficult for young readers to understand. Magnificent read!