<p> An emotional story of dance and class, combining the sincerity of K.A. Holt's <em>House Arrest</em> with the gritty urban feel of Kwame Alexander's <em>The Crossover</em> and the triumphant spirit of <em>Footloose</em>, THIS IS WHO WE ARE is a middle grade novel in verse about a neglected community, the shared humanity of its people and art that can save from violence and hate, even across the dividing lines of economic class.</p><p> </p><p> Mason Steele is a twelve-year-old popping animation dancer who just lost his cousin to violence on the streets of The Heights, only a couple of years after losing his dad on the same streets. He's angry. But even angrier that his 99-year-old great-grandmother, Memaw, is still planning to hold her community-wide 100^th birthday party. How can they celebrate with so much sorrow sitting on their shoulders?</p><p> </p><p> And, besides, while The Heights used to be one of the few places in Houston that broke class boundaries, thanks to its run-down basketball court where rich and poor play pick-up games, things are changing fast. The wealthy across the tracks are clamoring for the city to clean up the violence in The Heights, the basketball court's become a battleground, and prospectors have been scoping out The Heights for their "improvement plans," which everybody knows means gentrification is on its way.</p><p> </p><p> Memaw says art-painting, basketball, dance-can save the community. But can it, really? And, more importantly, will Mason be brave enough to share his art with a community that might just laugh at a boy who loves to dance?</p>