Shannon Miller: My Child, My Hero

Rating:
Summary: Good book...
Review: Overall, I think this book is a better book than the one authored by Shannon herself. Yes, it is a bit overdone in spots, but any mother who loves her child is going to overdo things a bit. I also think it's easy to discount the overdramatized and over done things while still enjoying a good read. Shannon's relationships and not so perfect side of life as a world class gymnast are also better discribed here than in Shannon's book, the Miller world doesn't always seem so eerily perfect in this book. I think it's probably as well done and as "objective" of a portrait as any mother could do for her daughter. As for the weight issues and other things, nobody in gymnastics truly ever talks about those things, and most don't find a problem with them. I didn't expect Shannon's mother too either, and wasn't suprised when she didn't discuss the subject.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books written about Shannon Miller!!!
Review: This book by Shannon's mom was really interesting! It was a lot like her biography by Krista Quiner, except it had a lot more detail about relationships and the life of an elite level gymnast. It also talks about how having faith in her religion helped get her through the many rough times she's been through. This book had a lot of good pictures! I would recomand this book for anyone involved in gymnastics!!!

Rating:
Summary: Everything you wanted to know and MORE!!!
Review: This book is good for these reasons: It gives you a lot of insight as to what was going on behind the scenes of Shannon's career: how much she competed in pain, what caused the injuries, the actual lack of time she spent training fully and still competed wonderfully in competition, etc. It also was interesting to see the mother's perspective, for better or for worse. Some things written in this book are a little disturbing. For instance, Claudia Miller's (and seemingly Shannon's) fanatical Christian Science faith. As much as I am all about the freedom to practice, it seemed that she mentions leaving everything in "God's Hands" and non-religious people will get a little exasperated at the numerous references. I think there were some situations where they needed to take the situation in their OWN hands: for instance, times when Steve Nunno was a bit out of line. You may be surprised at how much of a little child Steve Nunno acted like, even with Mrs. Miller's "turn the other cheek" way of explaining his behavior and situations. Indeed I believe Steve had good intentions and is not a BAD person, it did seem that his temper overcame him too much and personally I did not agree with a lot of his methods. However, that's just MY opinion (all of which really means nothing!) I believe Shannon was a strong enough person to deal with him, though, but perhaps did not need to be subject to the borderline abuse she received. All in all, you will enjoy learning the little things that went on and what her early career was like. A definite buy!

Rating:
Summary: Shannon Miller My Child My Hero a magnificent book!
Review: this book was one of the best i have ever read!!!! It is a great book that shows people of all ages that being a gymnast takes alot of work and is not easy! It is a book that you can't stop reading because its so good! It is deffinatly a page turner!!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Okay
Review: This book wasn't the greatest biography written about Shannon Miller. Of course, since it was written by Shannon's mother, the book does have a lot of little minor details and stories, and some of them were very interesting. (Like the one about Shannon dressing up as a grocery bag complete with the groceries one Halloween!) However, when it came to Shannon's competitions, the book had so many details about every little thing going on that it kind of became overwhelming, and sometimes I would put the book down, forget about it, and return to it days later. Needless to say, this book was a little bit boring. In fact, it's almost 300 pages long. Seems like a lot of pages for chronicling a nineteen-year-old's life! All and all, if you're looking for a good biography about Shannon, I would recommend reading "Winning Every Day" by Shannon Miller, or "Shannon Miller: America's Most Decorated Gymnast" by Krista Quiner.

Rating:
Summary: Overall a good book
Review: This is a great book to read if you're a fan of shannon, obviously, but also if you were a fan of gymnastics during the early 1990's. It's fun to read about all the different meets that you saw on tv and see the athletes perspective and the behind the scenes stuff. Claudia Miller discusses, in depth, the controversial 1994 team worlds where Shannon and Nunno left the competition early. She also talks about Shannon's stalker at the 1994 Nationals. The only thing that annoyed me about this book is that sometimes Claudia passed over certain situations and made everything seem perfect when you know it wasn't. Oh well, still worth a read, buy a used copy if you can.

Rating:
Summary: Intimate Portrait of Olympic Gold Medalist
Review: Written by her mother, this profusely illustrated story of Shannon's journey to Olympic fame is also the portrait of a family working together to help a child achieve a difficult, challenging goal. In this book, Claudia Miller helps us understand the dedication and hard work preceding the moment of Olympic glory. Claudia presents intimate details of Shannon's life, her triumphs and her crushing defeats. She also shares the ways she and her husband, Ron, handled both the tears and the happiness, as well as how they dealt with Shannon's siblings, Tessa and Troy, and her teachers and coaches. We journey with the Miller family through Shannon's training and achievements, struggles and injuries, to her dramatic comeback. In the 1992 Olympics, she won five medals. And in 1996, despite media declarations that she was no longer competitive, Shannon performed brilliantly--leading the women's gymnastics team to first place and winning a gold medal for her performance on the balance beam. We also come to understand the strength of faith and the sense of pride, dedication, and commitment that move Shannon to share her success through charitable work and community service, and we learn more about how to love and nurture the "heros" within our own children.