Balancing Act

Gymnastics #1

by April Adams

Five girls. Four events. And only one gold medal.

Floor routine. Uneven bars. Vault. And balance beam.

90 seconds. 75 seconds. 7 seconds. 90 seconds.

In gymnastics, your best friends are your biggest rivals. And the Bellevue Kips are feeling the pressure. Everyone wants to win best all-around gymnast at Optionals and State finals, but only one girl goes home with gold. Who will it be?

Nadia: Gymnastics royalty. Beam is her event. Gold is in her DNA. But how far is she willing to go to win?

Bethany: Best on floor. Worst on vault. Does Bethany’s height spell gymnastics doom?

Sara: They used to call her Tree Frog. Now, she’s too scared to tumble backwards. Can she get it together in time to compete?

Kelley: Gymnast. Soccer Star. And ballerina. The time has come to choose her sport. What is she willing to sacrifice to win?

Jamie: The new girl and the squad’s biggest mystery. Will she crumble under pressure? Or will she give them all a run for their money?

The countdown to competition has begun. Will it make them? Or break them?

Genres: Sports, Contemporary, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Fiction

139 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 19, 2012

About the author

April Adams has spent almost as much time upside down as right side up. As a competitive gymnast she led her University of Alabama team to the top of the podium and although her sights were never on the Olympics, after a degree in creative writing , April went as a journalist to the London games. April loves hiking, baking and spending time with her family in Utah.

Reviews

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
(Source: Read using Kindle Unlimited)

This was a really good story about a group of gymnasts, and their trials leading up to a competition.

I liked the characters in this, and I liked how they each had their own problems, whilst all having worries about their gymnastic performance. Jamie was the new girl, Sara seemed to have issues with OCD, and Kelley was having troubles fitting in her gymnastics alongside soccer and dance.

The storyline in this was pretty good, and it was nice how the girls were able to support each other, even when they were competing against each other. There was quite a lot of gymnastics stuff in here, so if you’re not a fan, this might be a bit heavy going, but I liked it.

The ending to this was okay, but it was obvious that this wasn’t the end of the story.
7 out of 10.

[Cherity · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the characters and the writing.
However, some gymnastics details were just wrong.
For example, there were mentions of a Soviet gymnast Nadia Comanechi and a Romanian gymnast Oksana Omelyanchik. And this wasn't on the same page or even somewhere close, so I don't think they were simply mixed up.
Or how about this: the girls compete on the beam and then continue to the vault! And after the vault they go to the floor. Of course, the vault is supposed to come before the bars or after the floor, not after the beam.
So, these mistakes in details made a bad impression.
Also, what's up with calling leotards bodysuits throughout the book? Does anyone do it in real-life gymnastics?

[Liralen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two and a half stars. This was in a number of ways better than I'd expected, but even for its target age range, it's pretty simplistic. There are five main characters, which is about...three too many...or at least, too many to give equal weight. I thought initially that the book would focus on Jamie's experience as the new team member and that further books would each focus on a different character, but instead this tries to give each character a full plot, resulting in none of those plots or characters being fully fleshed out. So you have Jamie (newbie, potential star), Kelley (maybe trying to do too much), Sara (struggling with possible OCD), Nadia (daughter of a famous gymnast, very focussed), and Bethany (worried about her height and possibly the mean one)...and there's not really much characterisation beyond that.

Heavy emphasis on gymnastics (to the exclusion of almost anything else), which is fun but also gets repetitive. Character A does a routine and sticks the landing. Character B does a routine and wobbles but sticks the landing. Character C does a routine...and on it goes. There's no real external conflict (there are some meets, but although they're trying to qualify for more prestigious meets it doesn't seem like there are significant stakes), and because the characters are so hard to tell apart for much of the book, there's not a ton of payoff at the end. So...sort of entertaining, but doesn't do anything to distinguish itself.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half of this book seemed great. It seems, though, that whomever may have originally edited the novel just quit halfway through and the second half was so riddled with writing errors and typos that it became a distraction. The story and ideas in this series are absolutely perfect for young gym fans- not quite as juvenile as the 1980s-90s The Gymnasts series I remember reading as a kid- and with more explicit gymnastics terminology and references to more modern gymnastics stars (though, again, the MISTAKES with even the spelling of or flat out names themselves was distracting to the point where I can't in good conscience give the book more than 2 stars). Kids into gymnastics will like these books. Hell, I like these books and because they're free on Kindle Unlimited, I'll probably read through all 4 of them this week. The characters are likable and different enough from each other to be interesting, though an editor or even a read through or two by an English teacher could genuinely help these books go from junk food books to solid YA novels. 2 stars for weak writing, but would have easily been 3 or 4 for story. Recommended for reluctant readers who love and live gymnastics- 8-12 years.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute, quick read about five girls on a gymnastics team training for an important competition while all dealing with their own problems on the side. I kinda expected the characters to be a little older than 11 from the designation of the book as YA, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

[Beth Pond · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a cute, quick MG read. The gymnastics descriptions were well done, able to be enjoyed by athletes and non-athletes alike. There was a lot of "telling" rather than really delving into the emotions. Also, the dialogue was great at times and very forced at others. I like the diversity of the characters. The struggles they go through are realistic. I just wish the author had delved more deeply into the character's heads.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really great! It made me want to read more and more. I didn't want to put it down! The author really got into their heads and I could really smell, Taste, see, touch, hear everything that the were doing. When one of the girls were actually doing gymnastics I could see what there were doing. Sometimes the word's could have improved but other then that it was really good!!!

[Tosin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable novel.

Great new series. Gives toy an inside view of competitive gymnastics. Great cast of characters and realistic plot. I loved being to know what was in each girl's mind. On to the next one...

[John Strand · Rating 5 out of 5]

best book ever!!!!!!!!!

This was the pest book I have ever read.
If you are a gymnast this is the book for you.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute :) just love jamie and all thr girls so funny and lovely story