Flipside, by Shawn Johnson (book review) – Olympic dreams or dreamy guy??

book cover of The Flip Side by Shawn Johnson with A.L. Sonnichsen published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers | recommended on BooksYALove.comSuper gymnast – hooray!
Quiet high school kid – okay.
The same girl – really??

Charlie wants to experience just one year of public high school as “normal” teen Charlotte before she tries out for the US Olympic gymnastics team, but keeping up with homework and intensive practice is much easier than staying away from the cute guy who wants to take her to prom… Focus, Charlie, focus!!

Shawn Johnson pulls from her own experiences as a teen Olympic gold medalist (yes, she’s a commentator at the Rio 2016 Games, too) in her first YA book.

Peek into Charlie/Charlotte’s life with the first chapter here free, courtesy of the publisher, then check out The Flip Side at your local library or independent bookstore.

What’s your gold medal dream?
**kmm

Book info: The Flip Side / Shawn Johnson, with A.L. Sonnichsen. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2016. [author Facebook]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Intent on being just a teen for a while, Olympic gymnastic hopeful Charlie remakes herself as Charlotte for school, but balancing her grades with high-level practice time turns out to be easier than avoiding the distraction of cute Bobby.

She is Charlotte at school so no one will treat her like a celebrity – being swarmed by starry-eyed young gymnasts at meets is enough! So Charlie doesn’t even tell best friend Zoe who she really is – after the Olympic trials in a few weeks, everyone will know…

Then upperclassman Bobby starts talking to her and life gets so complicated – now it’s Charlie who is starry-eyed! And he asks her to the prom, which is the weekend before Olympic tryouts!!

Can Charlie stay focused on her training as she and Bobby get closer?
Can Charlotte keep up her grades so her parents let her stay in school?
Can she make the Olympic team???

Written by Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson, this story of first love and one-time opportunities flips and twists with Charlie’s emotions. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

What do you think?

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