The Flip Side, by Shawn Johnson
When six-year-old Charlie Ryland is invited to her gym’s TOPs team (Talent Opportunity Program), gymnastics becomes her life. TOPs provides the U. S. Gymnastics Association a way to identify promising talent in kids between ages seven and ten.
When she turns eight, Charlie’s mother starts home schooling her so she can spend more time training. Three years later, the family moves from Indiana to Columbus, Ohio, so Charlie can train at one of the best gyms. Charlie is eleven. Coach Chris figures she can make the U. S. Gymnastics Junior Elite program by age thirteen. Charlie wants it. She, also, wants to go back to public school, but she doesn’t want anyone at school knowing about her gymnastics career.
So for four years, Charlotte Ryland, a girl with glasses and long blond hair that falls in her face, attends classes, takes tests, and keeps a big secret. Not even her best friend, Zoe, knows about Charlotte’s alter-ego. In the gym, Charlie Ryland wears leotards and keeps her hair in a ponytail. Charlie seems to balance her dual lives as easily as she balances on the beam.
Then, she meets a cute wrestler named Bobby Singh, and things get complicated. When Bobby asks Charlotte to the prom one week before the Olympic trials, Charlie faces a moral dilemma. She really wants to go to prom. In fact, her dithering about whether to go or not affects her training. Finally, Charlie decides to accept Bobby’s invitation. She doesn’t know that the decision could lead to the end of her Olympic dreams and her closest friendships.
(Additional Information: The author, Shawn Johnson, was a world class gymnast earning medals in various competitions including the 2008 Summer Olympics.)
