Stronger Than She Thinks

by Nancy Kerrigan (Author) Arief Putra (Illustrator)

Stronger Than She Thinks
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

In her first book for children, two-time Olympic medalist Nancy Kerrigan shares scenes from her childhood as she learns how to work hard, to believe in herself, and to land her first axel jump.

Nancy (age 8) and her family sacrifice time, money, and effort into her clear skill, talent, and passion for figure skating. She's really good at it, but money is tight while she's learning to land the hardest of figure skating jumps - the axel. And she must be able to do one in order to go to her first competition

.Her skates are too small, her feet hurt, but try after try, she gets up off the ice and takes another turn around the ice until she finally lands that first (wobbly) axel and then lands it solidly at her first competition

.Persistence, hard work, and the importance of believing in yourself are highlighted in this story from the earliest moments of Nancy Kerrigan's figure skating career.

From the author's note: From the earliest moments in my skating career, I faced obstacle after obstacle. But I kept trying. Every time I fell, I got back up. Every time I failed, I tried again. Every time someone told me no, I kept working until I earned a yes.... Eventually, I learned that I had more strength within me than I ever realized. And here's great news--you're stronger than you think, too.

Select format:
Hardcover
$18.99

Publisher's Weekly

With Van Cleave, Olympic medalist Kerrigan (b. 1969) writes a spirited autobiographical story about her childhood entry into ice skating. In Putra’s dynamic and saturated illustrations, Kerrigan appears in constant motion, while font-size changes emphasize verbs including darted and zoomed. Kerrigan finds ice skating “exhilarating,” and when her parents encourage her dream despite tight finances (“Nancy’s dad worked three jobs, and her mom didn’t work outside the home because she was blind”), she practices endlessly, continuing to train even with too-small skates, and working to problem-solve and land the elusive axel. Foregrounding the figure’s determination, hard work, and resilience, the title shows how landing a perfect axel led her to understand “I can do... anything.” An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–8.

Copright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission

Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781638192077
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Bushel & Peck Books
Publication date
October 20, 2023
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV039140 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance
JUV004020 - Juvenile Fiction | Biographical | United States
JUV032120 - Juvenile Fiction | Sports & Recreation | Ice Skating
JUV032240 - Juvenile Fiction | Sports & Recreation | Olympics & Paralympics
Library of Congress categories
-

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