Overview

"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. ""A spirited autobiographical story""--Publishers Weekly ""Straightforward inspiration for very young audiences.""--School Library Journal 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."

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9781638192077

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Reviews

"""Nancy Kerrigan's picture book memoir reflects on her inner strength during the earliest moments of her figure skating career. The movement of the text echoes the active illustrations, including her toe loops, salchows, and lutzs. Straightforward inspiration for very young audiences.""--School Library Journal 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. (Nov.)"

Author Information

Nancy Kerrigan is a former professional figure skater and the 1992 U.S. Ladies' Figure Skating Champion. She also won a bronze medal at the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics and a silver medal at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics. Stronger than She Thinks is her first book for children. Ryan G. Van Cleave wrote his first poem at age five, and he's been writing, reading, and loving poetry ever since. He earned a PhD in American literature with an emphasis in poetry and has taught at numerous colleges and universities. As The Picture Book Whisperer, he helps celebrities and high-profile clients write picture books and kidlit projects. Arief Putra was born in Borneo Island, Indonesia, in 1984, and spent his childhood living at the edge of a rainforest. He worked as an architect until a few years ago when he saw Pascal Campion's art and instantly fell in love with storytelling illustration. Arief is now a full-time illustrator working from his home studio in Jogja City, where he lives with his wife and two children.

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