An insightful memoir from a figure skating champion about her life as a bisexual professional athlete, perfect for readers of Fierce by Aly Raisman and Forward by Abby Wambach.
Karina Manta has had a busy few years: Not only did she capture the hearts of many with her fan-favorite performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, she also became the first female figure skater on Team USA to come out as queer. Her Modern Love essay “I Can’t Hate My Body if I Love Hers” was published in the New York Times, and then she joined the circus—Cirque du Soleil’s on-ice show, AXEL.
Karina’s memoir covers these experiences and much more. Attending a high school with 4,000 students, you’d expect to know more than two openly gay students, but Karina didn’t meet an out-lesbian until she was nearly seventeen—let alone any other kind of queer woman. But this isn’t just a story about her queerness. It’s also a story about her struggle with body image in a sport that prizes delicate femininity. It’s a story about panic attacks, and first crushes, and all the crushes that followed, and it’s a story about growing up, feeling different than everybody around her and then realizing that everyone else felt different too.
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Gr 7 Up-Karina Manta dedicated her life to ice skating from a young age, moving away from friends and family to train and compete with the best of the best. Through struggles with panic attacks, an eating disorder, and embracing her bisexuality, she clung to her love of ice dancing and rose to the prestigious ranks of Team USA and Cirque du Soleil. Manta's talent as a writer is obvious throughout, though the book occasionally struggles to transition smoothly between the slice-of-life style chapters. Particularly impressive is the gentleness and clarity with which the author approaches her younger self and past mistakes. Though the memoir deals candidly with difficult issues, it never feels tragic or sensationalized. Instead, it highlights the way toxic ideas and practices can hurt someone in ways not obvious to the outside observer. The depiction of Manta's struggles as a female athlete provides valuable representation of eating disorders and unhealthy body expectations in people we normally think of as strong and healthy. "Spoilers" are thoughtfully placed at the end of especially difficult chapters, ensuring readers that things will turn out all right and making this a title well-suited to younger or more sensitive readers. VERDICT This approachable, self-acceptance focused memoir is highly recommended for all teen collections and has a wide appeal that will extend to middle school audiences.-Amy Diegelman, Chicago P.L.