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

4.0

This book is a fictionalized depiction of the trauma that elite gymnasts face just by mastering their sport physically, not to mention the emotional trauma that has ensued due to abusive coaches and the predatory doctor whose name was changed in this book but was sadly very real. If you want to read a non fiction account of what too many of these young girls experienced and how the culture of the sport allowed the abuse to happen, I recommend The Girls by Abigail Pesta. I thought this book was well done and I liked how it incorporated real current events – it even included the delay of the 2020 Olympics. ⁣Again, it is fiction, but it provided much insight into the mind of an elite gymnast, as well as to her mother and others in her life.