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Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters | 
 enlarge | Author: Joan Ryan
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Category: Book
Buy New: $17.00
New (4) Used (15) from $16.66
Avg. Customer Rating:  140 reviews
Sales Rank: 308238
Media: Paperback
Edition: Revised
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.8
ISBN: 0446676829
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.440820973
EAN: 9780446676823
ASIN: 0446676829
Publication Date: August 1, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: New book that has minor edge wear...Grab this one for a song!!! Satisfaction Guaranteed or your money back...it's just that simple!!!
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Product Description
Little Girls in Pretty Boxes portrays the horrors endured by girls at the hands of their coaches and sometimes their own families. An acclaimed expose that has already helped reform Olympic sportsnow updated to reflect the latest developments in womens gymnastics and figure skatingit continues to plead for sanity, safety and an end to the obsession: winning at any cost.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 135 more reviews...
 awesome and scary July 21, 2008
as a mother to a 5 year old gymnast i was shocked to find out 5 year old elite gymnasts spending 5 hours a day in the gym! this is an eye opener. i would not want my daughter to be an olympian after reading this book! i read the whole thing in one day. it was a real page turner!!
Change the Name From "Women's" Gymnastics March 27, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was a fascinating, and I felt, a well-researched book. I've always felt that the term "women's gymnastics" was a drastic misnoner: it should be changed to "girls' gymnastics". These are not adult women competing - they are children. It points out the inherent sexism still at work. Men's gymnastics events feature adult males competing; women's gymnastics events feature young girls.
This is a book that should be read by every girl considering a career in gymnastics and by every parent of such girls.
 Little girls in pretty boxes February 23, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
A fascinating account of the stressful lives the lithe young and talented attletes endure. Very well written and illuminating.
A real eye opener February 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I got this book years ago. As the mother of a competitive ice skater I WAS INTERESTED in reading about skaters and gymnasts at the elete level. I was so shocked to read how our national gymastics team was trained. The story of Julissa Gomez was heart-breaking to read. No child deserves that. If any parent is thinking of enrolling their daughter in gymnastics I would highly recomend this book.
Parents, Gymnasts, and Figure Skaters -- Read This November 8, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a well documented expose of the extremes necessary for Olympic Gold. It should be required reading for figure skaters and gymnasts who pursue this dream. Also for anyone who would be a coach.
Without a coach who recognizes the limits of an athlete's body, she will get hurt, both physically and mentally. The necessity of a coach to push a hopefully Olympian past her limits exists, but apparently the norm in the industry is to push until athletes are used up, burned out, and broken subservient shells.
The one thing I took away from reading this book is that coaches push little girls so hard because their 'career' is essentially ended by puberty. This chews up and screws up potential (and real) superstars.
Documented studies show that more than 4 hours a day of training is counterproductive, but also that the more training an athlete does in his or her lifetime, the better their performance is. Coaches use the latter to justify a ruinous regimen that ends often in injuries for Olympic hopefuls.
If your child has natural talent, the best thing for her is to shoot for a full college scholarship with a healthy diet and no more than 4 hours a day of intensive training and exercise. With bright talent, the full college ride is a sure thing, but the elusive Olympic endorsement is pie in the sky. This book is full of examples of shattered Olympic hopefuls, but has a counterexample of girl with careful parents who turned their child's potential Olympic talent into free college, worth a couple hundred thousand dollars these days.
I have no ties to industry except watching the Olympics on TV, and I learned a lot from reading this book. Recommended.
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