The Winning Edge

Michelle Kwan Presents Skating Dreams #5

by Nola Thacker

When Courtney Reeves, a skater from Alabama, joins Lauren's previously private lessons with Coach Perry, Lauren begins to doubt her own abilities, especially when Courtney turns out to be aloof and unfriendly.

Genres: Figure Skating

116 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2001

About the author

Nola Thacker is a published author of nearly one hundred books in the young-adult genre. Nola has ghost-written for many popular teen-series such as The-Baby-sitters-Club, Laguna Beach and Skating Dreams. She has also penned several thrillers under the pseudonym D.E.Athkins. Additionally, Nola is the credited author behind the Graveyard School series which she published under the pseudonym Tom B.Stone.

Nola Thacker previously worked as a consulting editor for Scholastic Publications in New York. She currently works as a Program-coordinator and librarian at the Westhampton Free Library. Nola is a fan of manga and occasionally appears as a panellist at various Anime/Manga conferences. She also personally oversees content review for her library's graphic novel and anime collections.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purchased a used copy of this book, from my local thrift store.

Synopsis: Coach Perry is taking on a new skating student and now Lauren will be sharing ice time with Courtney Reeves. Courtney is the same age as Lauren, but the two skaters could not be more different. At first, Lauren feels sorry for Courtney because she is so far from home and has to live with her aunt while she trains with Coach Perry. But Courtney is so unfriendly - a true Ice Princess! As Courtney and Lauren prepare for their first skating exhibition, Lauren starts to feel anxious. Now that Lauren has won a championship, can she live up to having a winning edge?

My thoughts: this book, too, fell flat of my expectations. Maybe because I have been reading more advanced YA novels, but this one did not keep my attention. Ok, I can't really say that - I finished the entire book in one sitting, because it was a very quick and easy read. But I found myself listening to music, watching tv and eating a snack while I read.

I think that because it's "Michelle Kwan presents" I expected it to be more about the lives of competitive figure skaters... Not a novice regional champion. Also, I expected with a title like "The Winning Edge" for it to focus on winning and competition, not a gala presentation that revolved more around the girls' clown trio than an actual competitive number.

There wee very few actual skating terms and skating experiences described - this surprised me because, like I previously stated, I expected it to be more about the skating and less about the friends and drama at the rink. I thought the whole dog-getting-sick storyline was unneeded and added very little to the story. I also thought that Courtney needed more depth or description or something... Anything to make her more interesting. I kind of felt like, "oh, she's mean. Wait, no she's not, she just misses her family. Cool." But there was never really any closure about her feelings or why she felt or acted the way she did. Just my two cents though.

Overall, this book is definitely geared towards young girls who skate, definitely under the age of 10. However, that being said, it was a light and quick read that was a nice change to typical YA storylines.

Overall: overall, I give this book a 2.5/5, rounded up simply because I love skating. The Q&A itch Michelle Kwan at the back was story, but definitely the best part of the book.