This book is really good. This girl starts as just another outcast that finds joy in only one thing: gymnastics. Then. in a matter of weeks, she begins training with a different coach; one that is so much better than her old one, and all of a sudden, her life changes DRASTICALLY. She then begins training with Bela Karolyi, one of the most known gymnastics coaches in gymnastics history. This is when she begins preparing for the Olympics alongside (the one and only) Kerri Strug.
Now, I’ll tell you about the main character/author, Dominique. She has a very unique work ethic that I admire very much. She is so focused on making her family proud and gets such little support from her mother and father or even from her coaches. This has a big effect on the book because it gives you a taste of what it would be like to be under this much pressure.
This author has a very particular voice in this story. She often writes as though she is talking to the reader, but, in other times, it is almost as though she is unaware that there is anyone reading what she’s writing in this book. This reminds me a lot of the personality she has in this auto-biography. She is often ignored and has a lot of time to think and be all alone. When she talks to people as dialogue in the book, she is funny and will usually accidentally say something and then be embarrassed. This is just one of her character traits, and it shines through very clearly in the way she writes this novel.
Next, the setting of this book, which also has a large impact on the way this book is read (at least in my opinion). I think that this book is juxtaposed slightly because of the way Dominique’s life goes. She starts out with an average-level coach at a regular gym. Then, she goes to the LaFleur’s gym, with very good coaches and good equipment. Lastly, she trains with the best coach of all, and has horrible equipment. “The gym floor was old and worn under my feet and had little bounce. It didn’t have the familiar feel of the floors at my other gyms.” (Moceanu 79). I thought that this was odd, because you would think that the best coach in the world would have reasonably good equipment, or at least a floor that had a bounce to it.
The one thing that I thought had a large impact on the way I interpreted this book was the tone and the words that the author used. This tone (in my opinion) was kind of firm and strict against something rebellious; like pushing on something that’s hard enough that it won’t budge. This doesn’t seem like a tone, but, if you really think about it, think this: think of that feeling you get when you really want two things and you have to pick one. That is the tone of this book.
I think that anyone would like this book because everyone, even people not in gymnastics, has experienced the feeling that you get when you do sports. The feeling you get when you have something you really want to do, and either you quit because you’re too lazy to work to get it, or, you work your butt off to get what you want, just like famous gymnast Dominique Moceanu, youngest gymnast on the 1996 gold-winning Olympic team for the USA. This book is very easy to relate to.
Personally, I relate to this because I face many difficulties in gymnastics. Since, I’m so tall, it’s a lot harder for me to get the skills than it is for shorter people. Dominique experienced this also, but it didn’t have anything to do with her skills. It was all about the fact that she was growing up and she was so young. She was almost our age when she went to the Olympics. THE OLYMPICS. That’s big. What if someone just plucked you out of you life and told you you were going to the Olympics? It isn’t fair, not for her, or for anyone.
Anyway, I think that everyone should read this book, especially Emily M. and Vivienne because I know that they are both seriously involved in a sport. Thank you!
P.S. Emily, Viv, keep rocking! Love you guys. :P
