Gym Fiction

At present I'm Googling for gymnastics books, the fictional kind that I gobbled up as a pre-teen in the sport. The series all had a knack for referencing weird, obscure skills that nobody would compete, gym inaccuracies, and high drama. Think "Make It Or Break It" without the sexual tension. They often cropped up around an Olympic year.

I remember this series, "The Gymnasts," at my local library. It culminated in one of the athletes winning the 1992 Olympics (sorry for the spoiler), and I recall that the girls spent more time making snarky comments to their coach than actually practicing. Which, to be honest, reminds me of my girls sometimes. The author also had an obsession with Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," as every gymnast competed a floor routine to a piano rendition of this song.

In the post-1996 world, Kerri Strug's ankle still healing, I read this four-book series, "American Gold Gymnasts." I must say that while the gymnastics bits lacked in accuracy, there was some genuinely good material about the token Russian girl adjusting to American life, and some funny moments when an evil new coach comes to town.

Then my girls the Sweet Valley High Twins turned to gymnastics, or at least Jessica did. Funny, she was suddenly doing giants to a double back when we never saw her step foot in the gym in previous books.

Also, as a huge Boxcar Children fan in my pre-gymnastics days, I somehow missed this gem. Russian gymnast with a secret? What's not to love?