Heart of a Champion: The Dominique Dawes Story (ZonderKidz Biography) Paperback – Illustrated, May 27, 2012

Stick it, Stick it real good!In the book Heart of a Champion (The biography of Dominque Dawes) many inspiring things happen. Dominque’s first ever gymnastics class was cancelled. (I thought that was interesting.) She was born in Maryland. The book was about how Dominque became an Olympic gymnast. That’s not only what it was about, the book included the struggles she went through to get there. It also talked about what she does now. She has made a big difference in people’s lives. Dominque is a CEO of the movement of 60 minutes a day of play.In this book some of the main characters are Dominque herself. She is such a sweet young lady! She is a Christian that puts her life in God’s hands. Dominque speaks out loud to kids and teens all around the world. She is a motivator.Kelly (her coach) has been a big influence to her. Coach Kelly has been her coach since she was a little tot! Dominque and her still are great friends today. Dominque actually lived with her for a little while. You will have to read the book to find out why. This book has a great moral or lesson. It taught me to put my WHOLE life in God’s hands. She did and look where it got her. Yes, she did have hard times but, that’s life. She pushed through it and still worshiped the one and only God!I recommend this book to people who like inspiring books. Just about anybody can read this and enjoy it. It’s more than a biography it’s a great book. Get your copy today!

Thanks Dominique for sharing your incredible journey! My daughter is an 8 year old African American gymnasts from Maryland and your story truly inspired her!

I have watched Dominique in gymnastics every since 1991. This is a great book highlighting all her success in the gym and out the gym. I have always wondered how her parents thought about her gymnastics. Reading the book I found out.

This was a gift. The reciient was happy to get it but I never heard how they liked it...

Book is for our granddaughter. Another story of a girl who made good! It isn't easy to find good biographies for kids.

inspiring book for young person

Great story

This review is difficult as I love Dominique Dawes and definitely consider her to be one of the greatest gymnasts of all time. She is an amazing athlete, and she deserved a better biography than this one. It's written for young readers, so the simplistic phrasing and prose is to be expected. However, there were several continuity errors and inaccuracies about the sport of gymnastics. A few examples: late in the book the author explains why Dominique chose to stay at the University of Maryland - except she never told the reader that she went there in the first place. She only mentioned that Dominique decided not to go to Stanford, but was glad she was still going to school (which was incredibly confusing). She refers to 1996 teammate Amanda Borden once and only says "Amanda said..." and never tells the reader who Amanda was or why she was important. The author also talks about the "3-up, 3-count" scoring formula of the team finals when talking about competitions in the early 1990s - that format was not in place at that time. She also mentions that currently, each year, still only 7 gymnasts make the Olympic team. It's actually 5 (and was 5 when the book was written), though it will be going to 4 at the next Olympics. I really wanted to enjoy this book, but the numerous inaccuracies and the random mentions of people and places without any context or explanation were really frustrating, and would be confusing for young readers.

the children for whom I bought this all enjoyed reading this book said it was the best book they'd had from Sunday school

A little light on the details of her comps before 1992 and then again up to 1996. It seemed rushed to me. Overall though an enjoyable read.

Fast delivery. Happy with purchase.

A must read. Follow her story. The ups and downs of being a gymnast. She made it to three Olympics. Some feat.

Great read for any gymnast