Making the Most of It

by Clifford Bernath

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.

Genres: Sports, Young Adult, Fiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

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. She wins silver in the 100m at the Olympics, but then slips at the start of the 200m and only manages to bring herself back up to fifth. It was really disappointing because you're totally rooting for her, but probably better than if she HAD just won both golds. At least no one broke her world records ;) And I was especially glad when newcomer Rose didn't place in the 100, and didn't make the final of the 200... cocky little upstart that she was. Nina didn't have that snooty attitude, which was also good.

[Maggy Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

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!

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Sally Edsall · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Meredith Nigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Emie Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[Roxy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ein großartiges Buch das auch mal zeigt was passieren kann wenn ein Sportler einmal nicht seine bestleistung zeigt

[Lexie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in high school and enjoyed it. Lisa Forrest knows how to tell a story and make characters pop off the page.

[Gabby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to come.
End not what I expected...

[Ngaire · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.