Description:
In her first book for children, Olympic medalist Nancy Kerrigan shares scenes from her childhood as she learns how to work hard, believe in herself, and to land her first axel jump.
Brief description:
Nancy Kerrigan is a former professional figure skater and the 1992 U.S. Ladies' Figure Skating Champion. She also won a bronze medal at the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics and a silver medal at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics. Stronger than She Thinks is her first book for children.
Review Quotes: Olympic-winning figure skater Kerrigan looks back on her childhood.
Going for unvarnished role modeling, Kerrigan leaves her later experiences--including her 1994 attack at the hands of assailants hired by rival skater Tonya Harding's ex-husband--for readers to find elsewhere. Instead, she focuses on her early love of skating ("Blasting across the slick rink was exhilarating!"), the ease with which she left fellow student skaters behind, and obstacles she had to surmount on the way to shining in competition, from squeezing into skates that she had outgrown to working at landing a clean axel. The story glosses over these challenges, however--she is depicted mastering most skating moves with seemingly no effort, and though she couldn't afford skates that fit, the story doesn't elaborate on the financial sacrifices her family made to fund her skating career. As a result, the stakes seem low, and, as she waits under the lights at last for the music to start at a competition, the climactic drama feels manufactured. Putra expertly portrays her subject's famously infectious grin and captures the distinctive looks of a salchow, lutz, and toe loop, but there isn't much in the artwork, the third-person narrative, or the personal note at the end to support Kerrigan's message that "you're stronger than you think, too." A bland pep talk.(Picture-book autobiography. 6-8)--Kirkus Reviews, Kirkus