His nightmare a reality, Matt realizes his life is changed forever.No matter how hard people try to make him feel at home, he cannot shake the over whelming feelings of anger, sadness, and aching loneliness inside him.This is a penetrating, often agonizing novel about one boy's encounter with personal tragedy and how, ultimately, he learns to forgive.

    A background chapter on the ballet audience, the collaboration of composer and balletmaster, and Moscow of the 1860's leads into an account of the first production of Swan Lake in 1877. A discussion of theater reforms initiated by the Director of the Imperial Theaters prepares the reader for a study of the still-famous 1890 St. Petersburg production of Sleeping Beauty. Wiley then explains how the Nutcracker, produced just two years after Sleeping Beauty, was seen in a much less favorable light than it is now. Separate chapters are devoted to the music of each ballet and translations of published libretti, choreographer's instructions to the composer, and the balletmaster's plans for Sleeping Beauty and the Nutcracker are reproduced in appendices.