Dancing Barefoot

Alice Boyle

Evie Vanhoutte is a teachers’ pet, a basketball star and the most beautiful girl in the year level. Evie Vanhoutte is tall, has long dark hair, a great smile, and for the past four years, Evie Vanhoutte has been the object of my most ardent, heartfelt, and passionate affection. Unrequited affection, of course.
Patch is out of place at Mountford College: she wears the wrong clothes, she’s not sporty or popular, she lives in a small flat above her dad’s record shop a world away from the leafy suburb where she goes to school. And she has a secret long-term crush on basketball star Evie Vanhoutte. Evie barely knows Patch exists until an accident involving a bottle of ink and Patch’s school uniform sparks a friendship that’s equal parts exhilarating and terrifying, and very, very confusing.
Patch is out of place at Mountford College: she wears the wrong clothes, she’s not sporty or popular, she lives in a small flat above her dad’s record shop a world away from the leafy suburb where she goes to school. And she has a secret long-term crush on basketball star Evie Vanhoutte. Evie barely knows Patch exists until an accident involving a bottle of ink and Patch’s school uniform sparks a friendship that’s equal parts exhilarating and terrifying, and very, very confusing.
Dancing Barefoot is a feel-good romance about growing up queer, figuring out your place in the world, staying true to yourself and your friends, finding love, and learning to embrace the obstacles life throws in your path.

‘I loved everything about Dancing Barefoot—its strong characters, its laugh-out-loud moments and its irresistible narrative voice that engaged me from the first page.’

- Erin Gough

‘An uplifting, romantic comedy.…While debut author Alice Boyle shines a light on the serious issues of sexuality, gender identity and bullying the joyful characters and plot twists ensure this is a highly engaging read.’

- CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia)

Preview
Awards
Winner, Text Prize for Young Adult and Children's Writing, 2021
Release
Sep-2022
ISBN
9781922458711
Pages
320
Format
Paperback
Category
Fiction

Alice Boyle

Alice Boyle is an English teacher and author living in Naarm/Melbourne. She has written for SBS Voices and the Stella Prize, and her short story ‘The Exchange’ was published in the Black Inc. anthology Growing Up Queer in Australia. In 2019 she was highly commended for the Wheeler Centre’s Next Chapter program, and in 2021 she won the Text Prize for her debut novel Dancing Barefoot.

Text Publishing

Text Publishing is an independent, Melbourne-based publisher of literary and commercial fiction and non-fiction. Text has been awarded the ABIA Small Publisher of the Year three times and won the Leading Edge Books Small Publisher of the Year in 2018 and 2019.

Dancing Barefoot
Rights
World
Contact
Anne Beilby
Email
Website