Customer Reviews

Fast Lane to Victory: The Story of Jenny Thompson (Anything You Can Do... New Sports Heroes for Girls)

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Fast Lane To Victory is the third in Wish Publishing's outstanding "Anything You Can Do...New Sports Heroes For Girls" series and the story of swim champion Jenny Thompson. Swimming was what Jenny like best, but when her friends at school started to tease her and call her "tomboy" and "Too Tall Thompson", she felt the pressures placed on a lot of young girls to conform to social norms of what was "proper" for girls. Jenny dealt with the negative peer pressure and became so successful as an athlete that she came to be called the "Fastest Swimmer in the World". Also very highly recommended for school and community library collections are the first two volumes in this superbly presented and inspiring sports oriented series for girls: A Drive To Win: The Story Of Nancy Lieberman (40-8, ...) and Sword Of A Champion: The Story Of Sharon Monplaisir (39-4, ...).

I love this book! It's a great story of how sports can shape your life in a positive way. Swimmers and non-swimmers alike will be inspired by Jenny's story. This great book is now available as an e-book for those of you who can't find a copy of the original printing. You can order here from amazon.com, the isbn is B0001GDOUQ.

Swimming is a sport that attracks so many girls, and this book can help them get a picture of what it means to be a champion. It is an easy read. It reaveals some of the things she struggled with in her life as she grew up. We used this book to write a biography report. The appendix has a list of highlights of Jenny's career, and a history of women's swimming. I also appreciate the "Sports Talk" section that is a spring board for discussing (1) dealing with disappointment, (2)body image, (3) competitive anxiety, (4) benefits of Sports participation for girls, and (5) other general questions about competing in sports.

This book is a great idea. Jenny Thompson is a great choice for an inspirational story for young athletes, but the book is sub-par. The artwork is embarrassingly bad, using crude line drawings. Important obstacles are mentioned without fully being explained as to how they impacted Thompson or how she overcame them. Jenny Thompson's is an inspiring story worthy of a better book