A.K. Small

A.K. Small is a French-American novelist whose fiction for teenage readers draws on ballet training, artistic ambition, and pressures surrounding elite performance. Born in Paris, she grew up in the ninth arrondissement before moving to Virginia at fifteen. She graduated from the College of William and Mary and earned an MFA in fiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Bright Burning Stars follows two young dancers competing at an exclusive Paris ballet academy, where friendship is tested by discipline, rivalry, and limited professional opportunities. Algonquin Young Readers published the novel, and its screen adaptation appeared as Birds of Paradise, with Small serving as an executive producer. Her second novel for teenage readers, If I Promise You Wings, also centers on dance and belonging. Bright Burning Stars is rooted in both her French upbringing and sustained interest in the physical, emotional, and institutional demands placed on developing artists.