It all began with a rainy-day field trip to a Houston, Texas
gymnasium.
Simone Biles was six years old then, but she’d already
endured more than many adults. She and her siblings were
born in Ohio to a mother who was unable to care for them, so
the children circled between foster homes, grandparents and
mother. Finally, it was decided that the younger two would
be adopted by their grandparents and would stay in Texas,
which turned out to be a fortuitous decision: there was a
trampoline at their Texas home, and Biles almost couldn’t
stay off it.
Always an active child (and later diagnosed with ADHD),
Biles was a tiny tornado on that first day in the gym. She
flipped and ran and tumbled until she caught the eye of a
trainer who invited her and her younger sister to classes.
It turned out to be “the perfect outlet” for a “little
bouncing bean” like Biles.
In short order, she worked her way up the various levels of
training with her eyes on winning more and bigger. She was
“a dork” at school and sometimes a “brat” but always a star
on the mat and she knew she wanted to “go the farthest I
can,” even if a dream of a gymnastics career meant giving up
a dream of “normal” high school and being on a NCAA team.
Her parents helped her find the best coaches. They even
built a gymnasium for her and her team. And after achieving
the goal of landing a spot on the junior national team,
Biles then “quietly asked God to please help me do
everything I could to be part of the 2016 Olympics team.”
Out of my chair. That’s where I was last summer when author
Simone Biles nailed that floor routine at Rio. But in
my chair is where this book kept me this week because I
really couldn’t put Courage to Soar down.
Fans who notice that Biles (with Michelle Burford) is
bubbly-but-focused will be happy to know that that’s how her
biography reads, and it’s a delight. What’s also refreshing
is that it’s not boastful athletic chest-thumping. There is
some teenage-angsty drama here, but mixed with the pressure
of competition, it’s not a distraction. Instead, it and the
pure joy inside both serve to enhance the appeal of this
book.
This is a story you can share with anyone; in fact, when
you’ve finished Courage to Soar, you’ll probably want
to. A book like this, you’ll fall head-over-heels for.
* * *
Olympics fans absolutely can not miss Olympic
Collision by Kyle Keiderling. It’s the story of one
of the biggest moments in the Games’ history: the tangled
feet, the fall, and the finger-pointing when South African
Zola Budd collided with American runner Mary Decker. What
happened then, and what’s happened in the years since? I’m
not telling – you really need to read this book! |