Google “puffed sleeves,” and ask why your younger siblings aren’t getting similar gifts.ġ1. It’s a metaphor for your transition out of childhood. You think that makes you special, but it’s a trope. You never have enough clothes, until somebody gives you a bunch of beautiful, perfect clothes. You’re going to study aeroplane books on the sly and become a pilot. If you are Petrova, ignore all of the above because you are Petrova, and fuck that noise. They will never learn that acting involves just as much technique as ballet.ĩ. They will not get into theater school because of this. They will write about “feeling the part” in their diaries and staring into the mirror until they see the role they’re playing and not themselves. This will later cause young girls in America to read about you and assume acting is something different than it actually is. You’re the only person in the world who can truly capture the spirit of Shakespeare’s Ariel, or Burnett’s Mary Lennox. If you are an actor, you get lead parts just by showing up, just because you can feel the characters in a way that no one else can.

(But be careful - as soon as you leave the school, someone’s going to surpass you.)Ĩ. Posy was the real deal, Madame Fidolia’s first and only protégé, and yet as soon as she graduated, there you are, somehow eclipsing Posy as she turns her efforts from dancing to escaping World War II. Even if it’s barely been a year since Posy left the school. If you are a dancer, you are the next Posy Fossil. Luckily, there’s a very good school nearby, and they do their best to help families of limited means, and your means are limited almost as much as your talents are overwhelming.ħ. Yes, you are now expected to keep your family in porridge and organdy, even though you are nine years old and have never taken a single ballet or acting or music lesson.Ħ. Something unfortunate has happened to your family, meaning they have to pour every single one of their resources into making sure you and your siblings achieve your talents, so you can go out and earn money. You’re just naturally, amazingly talented.ĥ. You’ve never taken a single lesson related to your talents until the story starts. Each of you has a separate, distinct talent, which is fortunate because it means you never have to compete with each other.Ĥ. You are ridiculously talented at one very specific thing.ģ. You are young, though you find yourself growing up very quickly.Ģ. Previously in this series: How To Tell If You Are In A Haruki Murakami Novel.ġ.

The Magic Summer by Noel Streatfeild