Unstoppable
By: Maggie Nichols
Genre: Young Adult Non-Fiction
Summary:
Maggie shares with you her career of being a highly acclaimed gymnast. She'll tell you the highs and struggles and how she overcame those struggles. She also is going to take you into her dark nightmare of dealing with assault from what should have been a trusted source for her- and hundreds of fellow gymnasts. Maggie tells you how the Special Olympics inspired her and influenced her personally and professionally. Read how she navigates it all and survives pivoting her career.
Maggie was like many little girls- myself included- who was bitten by the gymnastics bug. Once she found it, she found her passion. However, it wasn't always a happy journey. She was plagued by injuries. She had setbacks that forced her to have to reevaluate her passion and how she was going to achieve the goals she set out to accomplish. Within the pages of Unstoppable, she shares with you what it was like and how she did it. Injuries are a blow to any athlete, but the recovery isn't always just a physical one. Athletes have to overcome the mental aspect of any physical injury that requires a break from their routine.
Unstoppable isn't just the telling of her career. Within it's pages, you're going to read some disturbing things that not only happened to Maggie, but too many of her fellow gymnasts. I've always known how disturbing the much acclaimed Karoli camp is. I've known how the athletes are treated there and the methods used to get the athletes into the "best condition for competition". I've never agreed with it and was angry with every story I read about it. Maggie shares hers with you and it will upset you. The way they altered her diet for the "better" and pushed her to the breaking point isn't uncommon to anyone who's walked the property. I had a hard time reading about what was overlooked and allowed for the sake of medals. This book reminds the reader that this facility is focused on winning at the expense of athletes' long term health.
The hardest parts to read within the book are those involving the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of Larry Nassar. Long before he was charged and sentenced for anything, the abuse occurred. Maggie is just one of the hundreds who came forward to tell their story. Maggie tells you how that came to be and how the process was for having him put behind bars. It's not an easy read to see how many trusted adults turned a blind eye or even covered up what was happening to the very athletes they should have been protecting. It was a victory I celebrated when it finally was done and it was a victory I celebrated as Maggie takes you on that journey.
I loved reading how her transition was into college gymnastics. I loved reading how she was treated by teammates and coaches. I loved how they became a family. I loved how they were able to comin in and undo the unhealthy eating and training habits instilled, in party, by the Karoli team. By the time you finish the last page of Maggie's book you will have read how she pursued her dream and overcame the nightmares she encountered along the way.
Unstoppable is a great book that any young adults could pull lessons from. She explains the technical aspects of gymnastics, so starting out gymnasts can have extra knowledge. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Maggie's story and I hope you do, as well.
