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NetGalley Review of Toe to Toe

Posted on March 3, 2026March 3, 2026 by caritagardiner
Screenshot 2025-12-01 at 1.56.43 PM

title: Toe to Toe

author: Falon Ballard

publisher: G.P.Putnam's Sons

publication date: March 10, 2026

pages: 336

peppers:  (on this scale)

warnings:

  • workplace sexual harassment
  • mentions of disordered eating

summary: When ballerina Allegra's creative director tells her that she needs to have more sexuality in her dancing, she hires exotic dancer Cord to teach her how to move.

tropes:

  • teach me
  • two different worlds
  • can't overcome my past

what I liked:

  • the interactions between the two
  • the choreography
  • their relationship and lessons

what I didn’t like:

  • mean mom wasn't believable to me
  • I didn't entirely get his issues

overall rating: 4 (of 5 stars)

As always, you can click on the photo above if you want to buy the book.

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WHAT I DO

I serve as a class dean and teach English to high schoolers at a boarding school in Connecticut. I’ve earned a Bachelor of Arts (Amherst College), an Education Master in Learning and Teaching (Harvard University Graduate School of Education), a Master of Arts in English (Bread Loaf School of English), and most recently a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a certificate in the online teaching of writing (Southern New Hampshire University).

As a writer, I hope to capture the complexity and joy of life in the New England boarding school world. On this site, I share what I know about trying to write fiction while deaning, teaching English, coaching, and doing the other tasks associated with helping to raise over six hundred other people’s children.

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Read my recent “Why” Wednesday Blog Posts

  • 376. Why You Don’t Have to Brush Your Teeth
  • NetGalley Review of Where the Wildflowers Grow
  • 375. Why Flashlight and Floodlight
  • NetGalley Review of Toe to Toe
  • NetGalley Review of Second Chance Duet
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