The Street Dancers

Fitzi Wolper and her parents are professional mimes who do much of their performing on Manhattan's sidewalks. Stringent dieting, frequent apartment changes and a hat that is passed for donations during shows are part of a life the girl desperately wishes to forgo. Instead of her father's tutoring, Fitzi longs to enroll in a public school and ``be normal.'' It isn't until her grandfather is hospitalized that Fitzi realizes the true value of the Wolpers' talents, and that perhaps she should embrace hers while pursuing a formal education. Hill artfully draws the reader into the realities of show business; through Fitzi's parents one feels the steadfast determination, the anxiety of auditions, the fervent hoping. And, as Fitzi gains self-acceptance, Hill ( When Christmas Comes ; Evan's Corner ) adroitly conveys her message--that building a future needn't obliterate the past. Ages 8-12. (May)