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Dirty Dancing by Emile Ardolino

In the summer of 1963, Frances "Baby" Houseman () is vacationing with her affluent family at Kellerman's, a family friendly resort in the. The younger of two daughters, Baby is planning to attend to study the economics of underdeveloped countries and then enter the. She was named after , the first woman in the . Her father, Jake (), is the personal physician and friend of Max Kellerman (), the resort's owner. Baby is befriended by Max's smart aleck grandson Neil ().

During her stay, Baby meets and develops a crush on the resort's dance instructor, Johnny Castle (), who is also the leader of the resort's working-class entertainment staff. While walking around on the resort grounds, Baby encounters Johnny's kindhearted cousin Billy and helps him carry watermelons to the staff quarters. There, she observes their secret after-hours party and the "dirty dancing" involved. Intrigued, Baby receives a brief, impromptu dance lesson from Johnny.

Later, Baby discovers that Johnny's regular dance partner, Penny Johnson (), is pregnant by Robbie Gould (), a womanizing waiter who is dating and cheating on Baby's older sister, Lisa (). Baby learns that Robbie plans to do nothing about the pregnancy, so Baby secures the money from her father to pay for Penny's illegal . Jake agrees to give the money to Baby despite her secrecy regarding its purpose, because of the trust he has always held in her. In her efforts to help, Baby also becomes Penny's substitute dancer for an important performance at the Sheldrake, a nearby resort where Johnny and Penny perform annually. As Johnny teaches Baby to dance, a romance begins to develop. Their performance at the Sheldrake goes reasonably well, though Baby is too nervous to accomplish the dance's climactic lift.

When they return to Kellerman's, they learn that Penny's abortion was performed poorly, leaving her in agonizing pain. Baby brings her father to help Penny, but when Johnny takes responsibility for Penny, Jake mistakenly takes this to mean Johnny had impregnated her. After successfully treating Penny, Jake forbids Baby to associate with Johnny or his friends, and he is furious at Baby for lying to him and betraying his trust. Baby, however, defies him and sneaks out to visit Johnny in his room later that same night, where they dance intimately and have sex. They both continue being romantically involved, but that takes a turn after a fight about "standing up to the man." This quickly ends after Baby comes to see him. During this, Robbie sees them together and makes a rude comment about Baby. This causes Johnny to become angry and beat him up.

An iconic scene from the dancing finale

Johnny is accused of stealing a wallet from Moe Pressman, a Kellerman's guest, and is unable to provide a verifiable alibi. To save Johnny from being fired, Baby confesses that Johnny could not have been responsible, as she was with him in his cabin that night. Johnny is cleared of the theft after it's revealed that Mr. and Mrs. Schumacher stole Moe's wallet. Max fires Johnny, nonetheless, for having an affair with a guest. Baby's selfless act inspires Johnny.

At the final talent show of the season, Jake gives Robbie a check to help defray the costs of medical school. Robbie then willingly confesses to getting Penny pregnant and insults her in the process, leading Jake to angrily snatch the envelope back. To everyone's surprise, Johnny returns to the resort to perform the final dance of the season with Baby. Criticizing the Housemans for their treatment of Baby, Johnny pulls Baby from their table and leads her onstage, interrupting the show which is already in progress. After Johnny makes a brief speech about how "Frances" has made him a better man, he and Baby impress the audience with a dance performance to the song "", which ends with Baby doing the lift successfully for the first time.

After the dance, Jake apologizes to Johnny and admits that he was wrong to assume Johnny had gotten Penny "in trouble", and he praises Baby for her dancing.

I give it 4/5 stars