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Making the Most of It
Ever since the Olympic gold medallist Angie Taylor had come to visit her primary school, Nina Hallet has secretly dreamt of representing Australia and making sporting history. But she is totally unprepared for her dream to become a reality. Suddenly she has big expectations to live up to.
- GenresSportsYoung AdultFiction
193 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
2 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Forrest
8 books10 followersLisa Forrest is an author, TV and radio broadcaster and Olympian.
Her first career, as a teenager, was swimming backstroke for Australia. In 1978 when she was 14 she won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada; she captained the women's swim team to the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow; and in 1982 won gold medals at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia.
For almost twenty years she worked as a TV and radio journalist/presenter before writing her first novel in 2000, Making the Most of It, a coming-of-age story loosely based on her own teenage experiences:
Forrest has so many arrows in her quiver it seems almost obscene she should add novelist to the CV. Yet she has done it very well. This story for teenagers ...is well crafted, deftly sketched and plotted with pace and panache.
Herald Sun
Lisa Forrest’s delightful and disarming debut novel ... is told in Forrest’s frank style, which eschews pathos and any attempt to make this either a heroic or cautionary tale.
The Australian Review of Books
Since then Lisa has written four books, including djmAx, about a teenage girl who wants to be a DJ and the grandfather who has raised her:
DJ Max is another great book for young adults. It captures the vibrancy of youth, the need to break free into new territory while still having support of the ‘oldies’. Filled with delicious details and intriguing subplots, DJ Max dances with life, a sure-fire page-turner.
Bella’s Books For Older Readers and Young Adults
... and Boycott: Australia's Controversial Road to the 1980 Olympics, a non-fiction account of the months leading up to the Moscow Games when the Federal Government, sections of the media and, unfortunately, members of the public, used all manner of intimidation in their attempts to force Australian athletes to boycott the Olympic Games
Forrest’s book is enlightening ... This is memoir, growing-up diary, elite insights and administrative history meeting sport- in-change and generation gap ... The best sections are marvelous ... Above all, she demonstrates that sport is rarely divorced from the wider world, and always deserves serious attention.
Australian Book Review
Forrest’s account of the times is remarkable and moving. Deftly weaving her own autobiography through these major machinations she has produced a powerfully honest book ... amazing to learn that it took until the Sydney Olympics for many of the rifts in Australian sport to finally heal.
Inside Sport
If only every book about sport was like this. Literate, well-researched, a careful mixture of personal anecdote and commentary from a wide collection of interviews.
Forrest is a very good journalist ... she adopts a wonderfully even handed approach. The story gets along at a page-turning clip and Forrest’s style is detailed and engaging.
Sydney Morning Herald
After an absence of some ten years Lisa has returned to YA fiction for Inheritance, a fantasy novel about an ancient mythical circus troupe called the Cirkulatti. She was inspired by her niece Indi, a circus girl in Wollongong, south of Sydney:
Lisa Forrest has created a butt-kicking heroine and a world of rich traditons, epic destinies and, of course, dark and closely guarded secrets.
Don't miss this action-packed new fantasy series!
Kinokuniya Books, Sydney
Lisa's most recent novel is, Glide - taking the panic out of modern living, was published in April 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic took effect around the world. She lives in Sydney with her husband, Jess. Their son, Dex, has just moved out of home to go to university which means Lisa has plenty of time to get to work on her next novel - whatever that may be!
Her first career, as a teenager, was swimming backstroke for Australia. In 1978 when she was 14 she won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada; she captained the women's swim team to the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow; and in 1982 won gold medals at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia.
For almost twenty years she worked as a TV and radio journalist/presenter before writing her first novel in 2000, Making the Most of It, a coming-of-age story loosely based on her own teenage experiences:
Forrest has so many arrows in her quiver it seems almost obscene she should add novelist to the CV. Yet she has done it very well. This story for teenagers ...is well crafted, deftly sketched and plotted with pace and panache.
Herald Sun
Lisa Forrest’s delightful and disarming debut novel ... is told in Forrest’s frank style, which eschews pathos and any attempt to make this either a heroic or cautionary tale.
The Australian Review of Books
Since then Lisa has written four books, including djmAx, about a teenage girl who wants to be a DJ and the grandfather who has raised her:
DJ Max is another great book for young adults. It captures the vibrancy of youth, the need to break free into new territory while still having support of the ‘oldies’. Filled with delicious details and intriguing subplots, DJ Max dances with life, a sure-fire page-turner.
Bella’s Books For Older Readers and Young Adults
... and Boycott: Australia's Controversial Road to the 1980 Olympics, a non-fiction account of the months leading up to the Moscow Games when the Federal Government, sections of the media and, unfortunately, members of the public, used all manner of intimidation in their attempts to force Australian athletes to boycott the Olympic Games
Forrest’s book is enlightening ... This is memoir, growing-up diary, elite insights and administrative history meeting sport- in-change and generation gap ... The best sections are marvelous ... Above all, she demonstrates that sport is rarely divorced from the wider world, and always deserves serious attention.
Australian Book Review
Forrest’s account of the times is remarkable and moving. Deftly weaving her own autobiography through these major machinations she has produced a powerfully honest book ... amazing to learn that it took until the Sydney Olympics for many of the rifts in Australian sport to finally heal.
Inside Sport
If only every book about sport was like this. Literate, well-researched, a careful mixture of personal anecdote and commentary from a wide collection of interviews.
Forrest is a very good journalist ... she adopts a wonderfully even handed approach. The story gets along at a page-turning clip and Forrest’s style is detailed and engaging.
Sydney Morning Herald
After an absence of some ten years Lisa has returned to YA fiction for Inheritance, a fantasy novel about an ancient mythical circus troupe called the Cirkulatti. She was inspired by her niece Indi, a circus girl in Wollongong, south of Sydney:
Lisa Forrest has created a butt-kicking heroine and a world of rich traditons, epic destinies and, of course, dark and closely guarded secrets.
Don't miss this action-packed new fantasy series!
Kinokuniya Books, Sydney
Lisa's most recent novel is, Glide - taking the panic out of modern living, was published in April 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic took effect around the world. She lives in Sydney with her husband, Jess. Their son, Dex, has just moved out of home to go to university which means Lisa has plenty of time to get to work on her next novel - whatever that may be!
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 2, 2012
I hadn't heard of Lisa Forrest before this, but my mum had. She was a bit before my time :D I wonder how much of this was autobiographical? It was a pretty interesting story actually - 14-year-old swimming sensation ends up winning gold at the Commonwealth Games, and then is on track for the next Olympics... but it's not all sunshine and roses and happy endings.
July 15, 2013
How refreshing to read a book for teens where the main character is someone you could really empathise with to in her struggle to overcome the enormous odds she is up against - some of Lisa's own journey as a swimmer and Olympian shines through giving Nina's story a real edge. Highly recommended as a novel to inspire!
January 10, 2025
Rating: 3,5
Nina is 14 when she breaks a world record in swimming. Soon after she makes it into the Australian National Team and her life changes.
The book talks about the ups and down in a professional sports career. There are times where you can feel like a rock star and other times people are not so kind and things can get twisted.
There are parts I liked and which made you think. For example the pressure athletes are under for always having to bring great results so they can have sponsors. The same time the controversy if they don't get too much money paid and if this money should not be better be spend on hospitals etc.
The story reads pretty smooth (also written by a former Olympic swimmer) but the same time it felt a little too fast and the scenes were changing too quickly. There were areas where I would have liked to dive in a little deeper. In most chapters there are also newspaper articles and a column which Nina is writing for a magazine which makes the story even faster.
In one moment she is in a local swim club and one chapter later she already has traveled the whole world....Also there is something about medication which is about 2-3 pages like it just got squeezed in at the end.
But overall not a bad read.
Nina is 14 when she breaks a world record in swimming. Soon after she makes it into the Australian National Team and her life changes.
The book talks about the ups and down in a professional sports career. There are times where you can feel like a rock star and other times people are not so kind and things can get twisted.
There are parts I liked and which made you think. For example the pressure athletes are under for always having to bring great results so they can have sponsors. The same time the controversy if they don't get too much money paid and if this money should not be better be spend on hospitals etc.
The story reads pretty smooth (also written by a former Olympic swimmer) but the same time it felt a little too fast and the scenes were changing too quickly. There were areas where I would have liked to dive in a little deeper. In most chapters there are also newspaper articles and a column which Nina is writing for a magazine which makes the story even faster.
In one moment she is in a local swim club and one chapter later she already has traveled the whole world....Also there is something about medication which is about 2-3 pages like it just got squeezed in at the end.
But overall not a bad read.
May 5, 2017
Lisa Forrest is now a journalist and writer. She was a successful international Australian swimmer. This was published in 2000. The writing was pretty good throughout, though there were some points I found a little less than convincing,the experiences did not always match the age of the protagonist in my view.
January 16, 2025
Charming quick read! Nina is such a relatable character, and it was really cool to notice the tone and complexity slowly change as she got older throughout the story.
February 24, 2018
Also ich hab mich total auf das Buch gefreut weil es nich so viele Bücher gibt wos ums Schwimmen geht. Der erste Teil hat mir auch ganz gut gefallen aber der zweite Teil fand ich ganz schrecklich, für mich fast unerträglich. Die Autorien war selbst Profischwimmerin, ich hoffe, dass nicht viel autobiografisches in dem Buch steckt
March 28, 2016
Ein großartiges Buch das auch mal zeigt was passieren kann wenn ein Sportler einmal nicht seine bestleistung zeigt
July 1, 2013
I read this in high school and enjoyed it. Lisa Forrest knows how to tell a story and make characters pop off the page.
July 1, 2015
Review to come.
End not what I expected...
End not what I expected...
March 1, 2018
Read as a teenager, on a recent re-read I dnf-d. I feel like this book wasn't really for me. Probably why I hadn't kept it on my shelves even though I collect Aus ya. I recently picked it up secondhand and decided to give it a go and that was a mistake.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews