Rating: 
Summary: Boy, just goes to show how naive I am...
Review: Joan Ryan's Little Girls in Pretty Boxes was a Stephen King horror story. The shocking accuracy of it frightened me and disgusted me. It makes you want to reach out and help these poor souls....no one deserves that kind of treatment. If you're the kind who gets upset easily, be warned. The details in this book could rival Bambi in the tear-jerking area.
Rating:
Summary: I'll bet Bela didn't like this one bit
Review: Who wasn't shocked the first time they heard Kerri Strug speak--in a high pitched little baby talk squeak--or the uneasy look on her face as Bela Karolyi carrried her around like a trophy? This book explains all that, as well as the strange look of the '96 "women's" olympic troop--stunted and hollow from starving. This book gives me a few ideas:1. Change the entry rules to require no female may compete in "women's" category before menarche.2. Forever ban the words "pixie" and "sweetheart" from the lexicon of "women's" gymnastics commentators and reporters.Book makes for great reading during the winter olympics.
Rating:
Summary: Provocative and Compelling
Review: This book will break your heart. It is well written and flows well. Each story told represents different sorts of confusion and heartache, and the self doubt of adolesence,increased by pressures and life in the spotlight. Any one interested in these sports should read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: OK, but one-sided
Review: This book is decent, but shows only one side of the story. Yes, the bodies of gymnasts and figure skaters are put under strain. But nobody is forcing them to do that! I feel that any young woman would have enough brains to quit a sport if they don't enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully true
Review: For those of you whom believe this book not to be true, I strongly disagree with you! Being a gymnast since the age of 3 (I am currently 14) I have heard the horror stories, been to the types of gyms detailed in this book. And I know that just because you want out of gymnastics doesn't mean you can just up and leave, You and your parents have spent large amounts of time and money in the sport and most of the time are unwilling to let you leave!
Rating: 
Summary: SO NOT TRUE!
Review: This book may be good, but it doesn't focus on the good points of gymnastics. Being a gymnast, I am outraged. Gymnastics isn't child abuse. It is the gymnast's choice if she really enjoys the sport. If she loves it, she will endur the hard work and determination to be a champion. Gymnastics is NOT easy. You can't be a champion in one day. It takes YEARS of hard work and determination to be a great gymnast. This book does not focus on REAl gymnastics at all. I cannot comment on figure skating, because that is a sport I know nothing about
Rating:
Summary: Gymnasts out there, get this book!
Review: This is one of the best books I have ever read! I always wanted to be a gymnst, and never truly understood the risks. I decided after I read this book, that non-competitive gymnastics is for me! Anyone wanting to compete in gymnastics should read this book, or you might not realize what you got yourself before it's to late! This is my message. If you love the sport, go for the gold! If you have any doubt's, be careful!
Rating: 
Summary: A book that only looks at 1% of gymnast's experiences
Review: As a former gymnast, most athletes do not experience "child abuse". In order to make it to the elite level, sacrifices have to be made. No one can make an athlete give up 40 hours a week to train; and no one can make an athlete perform at their peak. Only the gymnast can do that. Also, do we really think that young male and young female athletes need to be treated so differently? How many football coaches yell and swear at the players? How many wrestlers starve themselves to make weight? No one seems worried about them. Young women do have the guts to make it to the elite levels. It is ultimately up to parents to decide how their kids are treated in the gym. It is up to the gymnast to decide how hard they are going to work.
Rating:
Summary: This book is true. I lived it.
Review: I am a former senior-level figure skater (pairs and dance as well as singles). This book has had me mesmerized ever since I picked it up. I thought nobody cared about what happened to us, the automatic image fodder of our times. Just get out there and skate, and nobody cares what happens to you behind the scenes. Whether you get thrown up on (it is mentioned in the book and it happened to me too -- three times, as a matter of fact), spat on (twice), or just plain teased until you have to make some changes in yourself or quit competing....it's all there. And quite frankly, I found that Ryan was holding back a little on her description of just how bad it is in figure skating. She seems to focus on gymnastics, and that may have worked best for her. But from a former elite skater's standpoint.....this book is true. I have cried myself to sleep many nights over it. I have relived memories. I have gotten episodes of the shakes that I haven't had since my last Olympic qualifier competition. This book is true. Read it if you want the truth. Ignore it if you want to see the pretty little girls keep on dying.
Rating:
Summary: An eye-opener
Review: Joan Ryan's "Little Girls in Pretty Boxes" was literally a shocking eye-opener into the heated competitive field of elite gymnastics and figure-skating. As much as the sports have improved, the basic elements of her portrayal still remain. This is recommended for anyone who intends to enroll their daughters in gymnastics or figure-skating. Kristi Lynne(Mag7uire@aol.com), Sioux City, Iowa
|
