Going for the Record

Rating:
Summary: A triumph of the spirit
Review: Friday, June 20 is the best and worst day of Leah Weiczynkowski's life. Having just made the Regional Olympic Development Program's soccer team the summer before her senior year, she is on top of the world. Soccer is not only her life, it's the map to her future. But it all comes crashing down when her dad arrives late to pick her up from development camp and tells her the bad news -- he has pancreatic cancer. He has three months to live. He's dying.

Up to that point in her seventeen years, their family life has always revolved around Leah and her incredible athletic talent and drive to be the world's best women's soccer player in the world. Her dad has always been her biggest supporter, chauffeuring her to practices, games, and camps. But that summer it all changes. By necessity the family focuses on Dad, helping him cope and finding a way to cope with the cancer that brutally takes over their lives. And to further complicate her life, he wants to die at home. At first Leah feels angry and confused. How could this happen when her goals of a college scholarship and the Olympics are just coming together for her? She figures no matter what happens, she's going to need a miracle to get through this one.

When Leah's student coach Clay, out of genuine concern, gets a little too close, she pushes him away. As her dad's condition deteriorates, Leah gradually pushes everyone and everything away, including soccer. Her discipline and determination to be the best fades. Which is a blessing in a way because, as she soon realizes, dying has a way of taking the life out of, well -- life. She is consumed by helping her mother care for her father as he grows weaker. Yet as she learns about cancer and hospice care, and spends precious hours with her dad reading to him and playing cards, she discovers his faith and courage. Even though she loses her self in the process of her dad's death, she reaches down deep and finds her own soul.

While Leah's story is a real kick-in-the-guts and Swanson pulls no punches in the gritty telling, at the same time she offers readers a guide for coping with the suffering and the hope of life after death. This is a beautiful saga of love, loss, and the triumph of the spirit. Warning: you'll need a box of kleenex handy to get through this one!

Copyright (c) 2004 by Peggy Tibbetts

Rating:
Summary: A gift to all youth grappling with life's biggest questions
Review: Going for the Record takes you straight to the core of Leah Weiczynkowski's heart as she struggles to reconcile her love for her dying father with her dreams for her own future. Her gritty, courageous questions about life, death and what really matters will resonate with anyone who has lost a loved one at a tender age. Leah is so real, so true that you can't help but laugh when she laughs, cry when she cries and cheer when she finds the answers she's been searching for. This poignant and moving story is a gift to all young people who have grappled with big questions about the meaning of living.