Finding the Edge: My Life on the Ice

by Karen Chen (Author)

Finding the Edge: My Life on the Ice
Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade

Figure skating icon and U.S. National Champion Karen Chen tells the amazing story of her rise to the top, featuring never-before-seen photos and behind-the-scenes details from her journey on and off the ice!

At seventeen years old, Karen Chen has already achieved what some girls only dream of--and yet it's only the beginning for this incredibly talented athlete. The daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, Karen began to figure skate at just five years old. Ten years and many grueling training sessions later, she broke out at the 2015 US Championships with a bronze medal. This was after sustaining a nearly career-ending ankle fracture a year earlier. In 2017, Karen became the US National Champion, winning gold in two programs and receiving the highest score ever recorded for the short program at the US National level. Now for the first time, Karen shares the story of how she got where she is today--and where she's going next. Karen has already overcome astounding obstacles, and her grit, determination, and positive attitude have made her future truly limitless.

In Finding the Edge, she shares, in her own words, what it's like to be Karen Chen--and what it takes to achieve the impossible. Features a foreword from Kristi Yamaguchi, the Olympic champion, two-time World champion, and U.S. champion.

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School Library Journal

Gr 4 Up--Figure Skater Chen's memoir chronicles her career from her first time on the ice to winning the U.S. National Championship in 2017. She describes herself as a quiet, shy kid with a perfectionist streak. Chen's love for skating and dedication to the sport come across clearly. In the prologue, she writes, "Ice skating is the closest I get to flying--it's the only time I feel weightless and free." She shares how she overcame nerves and self-doubt at various points in her career and how she came back from a serious injury. Chen was a natural skater, but readers can see how hard she worked to get where she is with the support of her family, her coaches, and her mentor Kristi Yamaguchi, who provides the foreword. The prose is straightforward and full of detail about skating life. The epilogue includes a glossary of figure skating terms and technical rules. However, readers looking for information on Chen's personal life will not find it here. VERDICT Chen's fans and young skating enthusiasts will find much to devour about life as a competitive skater, while general memoir readers may not find much of a connection.--Mindy Rhiger, Hennepin County Library, MN

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"Chen's fans and young skating enthusiasts will find much to devour about life as a competitive skater."—School Library Journal
Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9780062822680
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
HarperCollins
Publication date
November 20, 2017
Series
-
BISAC categories
JNF007100 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography | Sports & Recreation
JNF018020 - Juvenile Nonfiction | People & Places | United States - Asian American
JNF054110 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Sports & Recreation | Olympics
JNF054190 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Sports & Recreation | Ice Skating
Library of Congress categories
Figure skaters
Chen, Karen

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