A review by angiew23
The Happiest Girl in the World by Alena Dillon

5.0

Oh man, I LOVED this book. This novel tells the story of a fictional character Sera Wheeler who is a part of Team USA and is training to compete in the olympics. Despite being fictional, Dillon includes so many references to real athletes and real events. It is clear that she researched the gymnastics world thoroughly prior to writing this book! It feels very real and includes details related to the child molester on Team USA staff (again fictionalized but very realistic) as well as the training camps and selection process. While reading this book you can definitely live vicariously through Sera if you ever wished you did gymnastics, but you can also see the horrors that this elite world brings. At about 380 pages it is a great length. Definitely add this one to your list!