Tumbling by Caela Carter (review)

It’s the Olympic Trials for gymnastics, and the book follows five different girls as they work toward their dream: Grace, driven by her coach father to anorexia; Leigh, worried about her comparatively large size and her closeted sexuality; Wilhelmina, bucking the visual trends as a black girl and the training trends in her competition plans; Monica, a wallflower starting to come into her gymnastics own; and Cammie, a former star seeking a comeback. As the competition unfolds, the girls excel and fail, surprise themselves in good and bad ways, and consider the hugely subjective selection process and their commitment to the sport. The story is as formulaic as the description suggests, with writing that dips frequently into the schlocky and sometimes into the turgid, and characterization that’s wafer-thin. However, there’s a reason writers return to the formula: a group of young athletes striving toward a rarefied goal while dealing with one another is a naturally dramatic situation. Carter includes lots of intense detail about gymnastics such as leotard wedgies, competition strategies, and the sound of the beam as you land on it, adding alluring veracity to the account. The book is too long for readers looking for a quick Olympic-year thrill, but devoted armchair gymnasts may find the you-are-there details enough to keep them interested.