Sasha Cohen: Fire on Ice: Autobiography of a Champion Figure Skater [Paperback]

Sasha Cohen (Author), Kathy Goedeken (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up

Olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen tells her story -- on and off the ice

champion figure skater Sasha Cohen captured the world's attention with her exquisite spiral and outstanding layback spin at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City. In Torino, she reigned as the most intriguing contender in figure skating at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games and triumphed with the silver medal. For the first time, Sasha tells her amazing story, in her own words, including:

• Her discovery of ice skating at age 7 and the coaches who trained her

• Her comeback from the injury that almost ended her career

• The crushing lows and miracle wins

This is the official autobiography of the world's most captivating skater, on and off the ice.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-8–From her early years as a gymnast to her determination and achievements as a professional skater, Cohen tells her story with frankness and humor. This fascinating glimpse into a skater's world–hours of practice, travel, and, finally, competition–will educate readers who think that the journey is an easy one. Cohen discusses her back injury and recovery, exhaustion, disappointments, and moments of triumph. The situations she describes are applicable to anyone who is contemplating a career in professional sports. The sacrifices that her family has made to support her skating–moving frequently, costly lessons, etc.–are described with candor as well. Black-and-white and color family and competition photographs add to the narrative. A thoroughly enjoyable read.–Kathleen A. Nester, Downingtown High Ninth Grade Center, PA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-6. Although Cohen hasn't yet earned a medal at an Olympics, the lissome 21-year-old's teen-idol looks and charisma, and her strong position going into the 2006 Winter Games, will be enough to draw readers to her autobiography. Writing with Maciel, Cohen tells of her switch at age seven from gymnastics to ice skating, the sport in which she leapt to fame at the 1999 Nationals. Her subsequent struggles with injury, nerves, and finding the right costumes and coaches dominate the book's latter half. Nonskaters may be perplexed by shoptalk ("working on her edges and slides"), and the somewhat emotionless postmortems of each competition eventually begin to run together. But there are enough girl-next-door details, such as the skater's adoration of ice cream and cats, to propel interested readers through passages that lack Zamboni polish, and children training seriously in any sport will appreciate the honest descriptions of athletic highs and lows: "When you fall on the ice, it's like everything inside of you falls too." Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Avon (March 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060724897
• ISBN-13: 978-0060724894
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,281,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars FOR FIGURE SKATING BUFFS AND FANS OF SASHA COHEN..., March 1, 2006

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sasha Cohen: Fire on Ice: Autobiography of a Champion Figure Skater (Paperback)

I have been a fan of Sasha Cohen ever since I first saw her skate a number of years ago. Even at a young age, she clearly stood out from the pack with her artistry and intensity on the ice. She is truly a beautiful skater. So, I looked forward to reading her autobiography.

Written as a first person narrative, the book is somewhat banal, at times, lacking any real depth or insight. Nevertheless, the book will hold the interest of those who are fans of Sasha Cohen, as well as those with an avid interest in figure skating. In her book, Sasha Cohen lets the reader know how it was that she became a skater. She discusses what she had to do to get to where she is today. She also includes a number of tantalizing tidbits about the skating world.

The book is peppered with many photographs of Sasha Cohen, in both black and white and color. This is definitely a book that her fans will enjoy, and it is a quick and easy read. It would make a lovely gift for a young girl or teenager with an interest in figure skating.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Amazing, February 2, 2006

By 

Satyavati Gita Patel "ff9girlmoonie" (Bogalusa, Louisiana USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sasha Cohen: Fire on Ice: Autobiography of a Champion Figure Skater (Paperback)

She's an amazing person to do a book report on and this book was just fantastic! Even if you don't have to do a book report, you'll be just as interested in it because I didn't want to put it down!If you want to know more about her before you decide to buy this book than you should go to www.sashacohen.com , it's her official site and it gives you her address where you can also send her letters! Sasha is just an amazing person who ice skates even though she has artritis in her back. I hope you'll read and enjoy this book as much as I did!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars She's my favorite female skater ever, November 29, 2011

By 

VampireNovelFan "VampireNovelFan" (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sasha Cohen: Fire on Ice (Revised Edition): Autobiography of a Champion Figure Skater (Paperback)

The first edition of this book was printed before Sasha's 2006 Olympic Silver medal win. We learn about how her love for skating was ignited as well as how she started out as a gymnast. A lot of her gymnast qualities translated into her abilities on the ice, namely her flexibility and beautiful attention to detail. We learn about her comeback from a potentially career ending back injury as well as a few difficult defeats.

While the book was interesting, it didn't feel very gritty or emotional. Sasha's career can pretty much be culminated as a big "what if". We never really see her mention what gets in her head that leads to her settling for any other place but first. While she is a strong short program skater, her long programs have always been her Achilles heel. She usually botches a jump which has cost her two Olympic Gold medals and two World Championship titles. We won't even mention the Nationals gold medals she let pass her by. She is my favorite figure skater of all time, but this book pretty much ignored the elephant in the room. Basically, it's nice back story, but superficial at best.