Tuesday 8 May 2012

Gym Stars #2: Friendships & Backflips by Jane Lawes, Children's, 9 years +,


1st May 2012, Usborne
137 pages, Paperback
Personal copy

Themes: gymnastics, starting secondary school, friendships cracking, breaking, & mending, confusion, hard time balancing & choosing priorities, enjoying living the dream, thrills and chills of competition, mean girl, emotionsl turmoil, seversl not so great things happening at once, lots of 'oh no moments, lots of laughter and a few tissues needed.

Summary from Usborne
Tara has been entered into her first ever gym competition and she's desperate to win. But she's so busy learning the tricky routine that she doesn't have time for her best friends. When they all fall out, Tara realises that her friends are more special than any medal. Can she find a way to make up with them and follow her gym star dreams?
Nayuleska's thoughts
I love second books because I already live the characters so don't spend as much time as the first getting to know who Tara and her friends are. I felt for her through most of the book with the tough choices she faced. I felt uneasy when she didn't know what to do, I was crying when things hit rock bottom and when they began picking up. It's natural for friendships to evolve over time, true friends will always be there for you like Kate and Emma are for Tara. Tara gets a taste of what life is like for a competing gymnast, and the way she struggles then triumphs over this hurdle makes it a 10/10 read - maybe that should be a gold!

You can find out more on Jane's website.

Suggested reading

This isn't so much as a suggestion but more of an order - read book 1 where Tara's dream starts: Summertime and Somersaults.


3 comments:

Girls Mobile Number said...

Such a good color combo! So fresh for spring :)

Nayuleska said...

Yes they are!

School Girls said...

nice post, really like it