Books Kids Like's Reviews > The Flip Side

When six-year old Charlie Ryland is invited to her gym’s TOPs team (Talent Opportunity Program), gymnastics becomes her life. TOPs is a way for U. S. Gymnastics to identify promising talent in kids between ages seven and ten. When she turns eight, Charlie’s mother starts home schooling her. Three years later, the family moves from Indiana to Columbus, Ohio, so Charlie can train at one of the best gyms. Charlie is eleven. Coach Chris figures she can make the U. S. Gymnastics Junior Elite program by age thirteen. Charlie wants it. She, also, wants to go back to public school, but she doesn’t want anyone at school knowing about her gymnastics career. So for four years, Charlotte Ryland, a girl with glasses and long blond hair that falls in her face, attends classes, takes tests, and keeps a big secret. Not even her best friend, Zoe, knows about Charlotte’s alter-ego. In the gym, Charlie Ryland wears leotards and keeps her hair in a ponytail. Charlie seems to balance her dual lives as easily as she balances on the beam. Then, she meets a cute wrestler named Bobby Singh, and things get complicated. When Bobby asks Charlotte to the prom one week before the Olympic trials, Charlie faces a moral dilemma. She really wants to go to prom. In fact, her dithering about whether to go or not is affecting her training. Finally Charlie decides to accept Bobby’s invitation, but she doesn’t know that an accident on the dance floor could jeopardize her entire career and her high school friendships.
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