Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters

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Summary: The Worlds Up and Coming Gymnasts, Or So We Thought
Review: This book unravels the world of gymnasts and figure skaters. We saw them in Atlanta as happy little gymnasts, but are they really? We saw the happy face of Bela Karolyi, but what happens behind the scenes? The author goes and trys to find out just that. She found out what happens, and not just her, but everyone who has read this book was not only stunned but horrified to find out. Read this book if you want to know what happens behind the scenes of Olympic dreams

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Summary: Focus is on the worst that happens in gymnastics for a few %
Review: This book is good reading and opens one's eyes to the pressure in a sport for young girls. As a mother of an optional gymnast, I've read the book, as has my daughter, her teammates,coaches, and many mothers. Unfortunately, the author focuses on the worst situations in gymnastics. There are hundreds of young girls all over the U.S. participating in the USGF Jr. Olympic program at various levels who are not under the kinds of pressure discussed in the book. As a reader, one must keep in mind this is a story of a very small percentage of the athletes involved in the sport of gymnastics and figure skating

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Summary: The best book I have ever read!!
Review: I think this book is really excellent and it is well written. It exposes something that is going on behind the scenes of gymnastics. I am a teenager and liked this book a lot because a lot of my friends are gymnasts and do not know what is going on. I like gymnastics a lot, but now I am not sure because this book has now opened my eyes

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Summary: Provocative, truthfull, beautifully written.
Review: A compelling story that exposes what is to often the truth of what goes on in elite level womens gymnastics and figure skating when the camara stops and the door shuts.Eating disorders, rampant injuries, and worse. Once you read this you will never look at gymnastics or figure skating again. I know I never will.

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Summary: Very Effective View
Review: This book was very effective in showing the world some of the truths about gymnastics and figure skating. This book may be hard on the heart (and do keep in mind these stories are from the elite level) but it's something that every parent and gymnast should read if they are thinking of going into the elite levels. Great coaches reading also!

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Summary: Little Girls in Pretty Boxes
Review: As with most scandalous exposes, this book needs to be taken with a grain (alright, more like a pound) of salt. What Ryan does is take a few isolated incidents and transforms them into the norm, which creates great a shock-factor for an entertaining read, although little journalistic substance. If you want a captivating and easy read, then this book is for you. However, please realize that Ryan's primary motive in writing this book was to sell copies, and not to present an accurate view of gymnastics and figure skating (both of which I have been involved very deeply for many years).

Thanks for reading. =)

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Summary: Gone too far
Review: Read about this book to learn about yet another way in which the American drive to produce winners in athletics has gone too far. This author focuses on the abuse of young girls in gymnastics and skating; however, I see the problems in these sports as part of the bigger picture. Our culture places such a high value on athletics that no sport has gone unscathed. I myself was a competitive swimmer and saw various friends battle injuries, eating disorders, alcoholism, and other demons as direct or indirect consequences of the demands of our sport. Every once in a while, a great star is produced, and all the sacrifices seem to have been worth it. The truth is, however, that for every Michael Phelps there are thousands of casualties. It's hard to believe, though, that change is forthcoming- are we willing to preserve the health and well-being of children by freely accepting that by cutting back training schedules, etc., we will not produce the great athletes that we have been? I don't see it coming. As long as baseball players are making outrageous salaries and sports stars are revered as the heroes of today, we will continue to chase the dream and sacrifice literally anything and everything to be successful, as are the little girls in pretty boxes of this book.