Book Blab @ Stevenson H. S.

Review by Carisa C.

Brown Period 5

Chalked Up by Jennifer Sey is about a teen gymnasts dreams to be an Olympic gymnast, and her struggles on the way of getting there. At the age of 38, Mike Jacki, head of the U.S. Gymnastics Team, calls Jen and asks her to compete in an upcoming meet. But after 20 years she’s not sure she’ll be able to regain all of her skills. The book flashes back into her teenage years and tells the story of her life as one of the best gymnasts in the U.S. But as a young girl, her fear of getting hurt gets in the way of her being the top gymnast in the country.

This book is very appealing because it is based off of a true story. It goes into a lot of detail of her struggles with fear, weight, and demanding coaches. She is very determined and dedicated. She doesn’t understand why any girl would want to give up gymnastics for anything. Although she is always second best on her teams, and the assistant coaches pay more attention to her than the head coaches, she is more determined than any other girl on the team and she makes it farther than anyone would have thought.