Winning Balance Giveaway

I recently had the opportunity to read and review* Winning Balance by Shawn Johnson. I know I am not alone in my love for watching gymnastics. In fact, I am already counting down the days to the London Olympics which will allow me to watch more of this fascinating sport! 

For those of you who aren't familiar with Shawn Johnson's story, she rose from a virtually unknown to a gold medal hopeful in non-traditional fashion. She spent almost half as many hours in the gym as her counterparts, trained away from the glitz and glamour, but still managed to earn a spot on the 2008 Olympic team. Favored to possibly win 4 gold medals, she ended with 1 gold and 3 silver. She then retired from the sport, participated in and won Dancing with the Stars and then tried for a return to gymanstics. She hoped to be in London this summer but injured her knee skiing and was forced to retire again.

While I enjoyed Shawn's book and found it an easy and interesting read, I think that it is much more pertinent for young girls -- teenagers and even young college-aged women. Shawn is a fantastic role model for women of our society who are inundated with unhealthy images of beauty and success.  Shawn's work ethic, faith, focus, and ability to balance her social and athletic lives is second-to-none ... as is the books secondary messages of the dangers of Hollywood and unhealthy body images. 

However, I couldn't help but thinking, despite all she went through, "Okay, but she's twenty years old. She's let a pretty easy life. Do I really have anything to learn from her?" In addition, her tales of boyfriends and first loves caused me a little bit of eye rolling. I don't consider myself old, but I suppose fifteen years puts me a whole generation ahead of Shawn. And this book made me feel that.

But young girls need look no further than Shawn Johnson for a quality role model. If my daughter were to grow up with the character, integrity, and work ethic of this young woman, gymnastics aside, I would be thrilled. These are the types of sports heroes that we need more of.

And of course, what would a book review be without a giveaway? I'm going to mail this to my friend Tara, as she is a sports biography junkie. But she said she would gladly read it and then mail it to the winner of my giveaway. So leave a comment with your name and email address for a chance to win a copy of this book.

*Tyndale Publishers provided me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.