Written by Olympic medalist, Dominique Moceanu and author, Alicia Thompson, this quartet dives into the grit and determination of competitive gymnastics combined with the coming of age and friendship of the Texas Twisters teammates.

1. Balancing Act: I suspect that this one was the most personal for Moceanu, sharing Noelle’s Romanian heritage and being the wunderkind of the team. It is personal in detailing the frustration that comes with being working class, knowing that she could potentially win, but might lose out the opportunity because of money. It ties into her fears of making her family sacrifice so much for her dreams, and the pressure that comes with that. Very well-done.
2. Unexpected Twist: Cristina has the most opportunity. She’s rich. Her mother is devoted to her gymnastics career, possibly too overbearing about it. But when she strains her tendon, it throws her for a loop. The break forces her to reckon with her feelings for gymnastics and that she doesn’t have the drive to be an Olympian like her friends. But if she doesn’t go for the Olympics, what is the point? With so much focus on winning, this book brings things back to the heart of the sport (any sport really), and why it draws people to it, gold or no gold.
3. Winning Team: Britt is the spunkiest member, and so her book has the most distinct voice. It does a nice job of introducing the characters and laying the seed for the Noelle, Cristina, and Jessie’s stories, but Britt’s self-centered oblivious can be hard to take so it’s down to third place.
4. Reaching High: Jessie’s story of trying to find a balance between the team, and having a social life is a worthy one. But one could see that the cheerleaders were false friends from the start, so this one felt cliche and slow without the energy of the gym.