Biography

In sixth grade, Brooks Benjamin formed a New Kids on the Block tribute dance crew called the New Kidz. He wasn’t that good at dancing back then. But now he’s got a new crew—his wife and their dog. They live in Tennessee, where he teaches reading and writing and occasionally busts out a few dance moves. He’s still not that good at it. My Seventh-Grade Life in Tights is his first novel.

Schedule

11:30 a.m. to Noon
State Library of Louisiana, Teen HQ
Contest
YA Fiction-ary
Ages 11 and up

3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
State Library of Louisiana, Seminar Center
Book Talk
My Seventh Grade Life in Tights

3:45 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
B&N Jr. Tent
Book Signing

My Seventh Grade Life in Tights

Football hero. Ninja freestyler. It’s seventh grade. Anything is possible.

All Dillon wants is to be a real dancer. And if he wins a summer scholarship at Dance-Splosion, he’s on his way. The problem? His dad wants him to play football. And Dillon’s freestyle crew, the Dizzee Freekz, says that dance studios are for sellouts. His friends want Dillon to kill it at the audition—so he can turn around and tell the studio just how wrong their rules and creativity-strangling ways are.

At first, Dillon’s willing to go along with his crew’s plan, even convincing one of the snobbiest girls at school to work with him on his technique. But as Dillon’s dancing improves, he wonders: what if studios aren’t the enemy? And what if he actually has a shot at winning the scholarship? 

Dillon’s life is about to get crazy . . . on and off the dance floor in this kid-friendly humorous debut by Brooks Benjamin.

“A rollicking, big-hearted breakdance of a book. It’s a story about friendship that’s got all the moves: humor both sly and slapstick, a diverse cast of characters, and a winning narrator who’s trying to learn how to follow his heart, find the beat, and dance his pants right off.” —Kate Hattemer, author of The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy

“Equal parts jazz hands and karate chop, with a dash of football and a pirouette of pure heart. Dillon and the Dizzee Freekz are en pointe. This book will rock you! “—Kristin O’Donnell Tubb, author of The 13th Sign