Come a Stranger Summary
Cynthia Voigt

Come a Stranger Summary

There are times when there is nothing ten-year-old Wilhemina Smiths can do but dance. Her body demands it; the music inside her head demands it.

So skilled is she at ballet, she is awarded a scholarship to a summer dance camp for the gifted. Mina, as she is called, is the only black child at the camp, but she scarcely notices this, so enthralled is she with the wonder of the camp, with the fascination of things she is learning about dance and music, and with the view of life outside her hometown of Crisfield.

The following summer Mina returns to camp, but everything is different.

She has spent the school year growing, her body is awkward and ungainly, and she can no longer dance with ease and grace. There are other changes also. She begins to see herself as a token black in a sea of white...

(read more from the Short Guide)