review: Balancing Act

title: Balance Act: The Heights
author: Paula Chase
date: Wednesday Books/MacMillan; 2025
YA contemporary fiction

Paula Chase is the cofounder of The Brown Bookshelf, a site designed to increase awareness of African American voices writing for young readers. She lives in Annapolis, Maryland. Her novels include the acclaimed So Done, its companion, Dough Boys, and Keeping It Real. “My stories all come from the same place — me wanting to tell the story of a child that I don’t believe is reflected regularly.” I felt that in Balancing Act; that she wasn’t writing for me, but rather just as she says, for young people who don’t often see themselves in books. I should really be more specific. in Balancing Act, Paula is writing for urban teens. Lives are validated not through what reviewers often see as ‘gritty’ but a very nuanced layering of Black classicism.  Even though she provides a fictitious urban setting, these teen’s reality isn’t directly about racism, income, or gender. It’s about the balancing act they do to survive every day. Conversations are sparring matches where punches are delivered through word choice, tone, and gestures. Who’s got your back? Alliances are determined through families, neighborhoods, and other institutions that are usually beyond individual choice. That defines the struggle Jamaal Henderson is having.

The communities are trapped in a battle, like two roosters fighting over the last hen after an apocalypse, to claim ownership over both the park and Dub, the high school with the best record in the city’s basketball history. Constantly fighting over scraps means sometimes the two spots get along and sometimes they don’t. When people feel forgotten, they turn on each other instead of the people that forgot about them.

And right now, nothing has the block feeling more forgotten that Maal deciding to transfer to the Heights. (P 26-7)

Chyna’s voice joins Jamaal’s in telling this story. The two are very old friends, brought even closer through the murder of Jamaal’s older brother that occurs at the beginning of the book. Chyna, a rising gymnastic star, is also transferring to the Heights School of Technology, Sports, and Arts. The multi-million-dollar school complex that was founded by Dr. Timothy Walker, a Black man with a vested interest in the community. Chyna, a newcomer to gymnastics, is just beginning to build her career while Jamaal is trying to prove his worth by being the cornerstone of a successful basketball program at the Heights. Dr. Walker wants both of these young talents, along with their teammates, to succeed because their success on the floor means the school’s success.

What I found intriguing here is that this school’s mission is premised up sports, arts, and technology, not academic achievement. Chyna’s Aunt Tam is worried about her not getting paid for her athleticism (p. 59) rather than the quality of education at the new school. She really should be concerned! Chyna reflects, “It sounds cool not having a traditional teacher for everything, until you realize that it’s basically three hours and fifty minutes of independent study in every class. Have you ever tried teaching yourself chemistry?” (p.111)

Who is profiting off this young talent and for what are they being prepared?

Some of the chapters are presented as social media posts, some as text conversations, and others as transcripts from meetings. While this breaks up the text, some of the chapters are still a bit long, and the book itself clocks in at 400 pages. Despite that, readers will want to stick around for the cliffhanger that will pull them into the next book in the series. Young readers will be excited to find language, situations, and mocktails that make them feel relevant.

be well and do good

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