Ready to Fly: How Sylvia Townsend Became the Bookmobile Ballerina

Ready to Fly is an inspiring picture book about the life of African American dancer Sylvia Townsend, who taught herself to dance ballet by reading books she borrowed from a bookmobile as a young girl. Now available in paperback!

INSPIRED BY THE AMAZING LIFE OF BALLERINA SYLVIA TOWNSEND

Sylvia longs to be a ballerina like the ones she sees on television.

She wants to leap

and twirl

and do pliés

till she can dance in real ballets.

But as an African American girl in 1950s America, Sylvia has to make her dreams come true against all odds.

This beautiful first-ever biography of Sylvia Townsend tells the story of how one determined girl got her wings by discovering the magic