Nadia

April 18, 2016
Gray debuts with a picture book
biography of phenomenal Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, the star of the 1976 Olympic Games. From climbing (and toppling) her Christmas tree as a child to becoming the first gymnast to earn a perfect score in any event, the “feisty and fearless” Comaneci overcame early defeats and channeled her boundless energy into a successful gymnastics career: “Nadia mounted the bars. Now fourteen years old, she was a long way from the forests in Romania. But she swung around as easily as she had jumped from branch to branch as a little girl.” The jaunty narrative takes readers from Comaneci’s childhood through her first Olympics with lively illustrations in ink, watercolor, and pencil. Davenier (the Very Fairy Princess series) depicts a determined Comaneci swinging, balancing, and flipping, all while smiling as her ponytail flies out behind her. Vignettes of Comaneci in multiple stances on the same apparatus, such as the balance beam or uneven bars, evoke continuous movement, adding energy to the competition scenes. An afterword, which includes a timeline, briefly continues Comaneci’s story, highlighting her defection to the U.S. in 1989 and her post-competition career. Ages 6–9. (June)■

April 1, 2016
Gray presents the childhood of the sensational Romanian gymnast who, at age 14, won five medals at the 1976 Olympics. Early on, Nadia's parents enroll her in gymnastics lessons to channel her exuberant energy. At 6, she's spotted by Bela and Marta Karolyi and enrolled at their gymnastics school. With practice, Nadia graduates from cartwheels on the floor to difficult moves on the high beam. Her arduous road to success is highlighted at her first Romanian Junior National Championships, where she falls three times and finishes 13th. Determination and hours of daily practice lead to gold the very next year and later, to her stunning performances at the 1976 Olympics, where she awes observers, earning seven perfect 10 scores. Gray's narrative is as sprightly as a gymnast's back flips. She cultivates simple dramatic scenes: "The audience gasped as she twirled and whipped and flipped. / ... / After a long wait, the scoreboard flashed a number: 1:00. A terrible score." (The scoreboard, programmed for scores through 9:99, belied Nadia's perfection.) Davenier's watercolor, ink, and pencil pictures capture events in double-page spreads and spots. Depicted multiple times on the page, Nadia leaps and spins through dazzling routines. Davenier applies skin tones as loose blobs that partly color white faces; crowds and performers, even at the Olympics, are homogeneously fair-skinned. Poised for the 2016 Summer Games, this pays a respectful, 40th-anniversary tribute to Comaneci's soaring achievements. (afterward, timeline, quotation sources, selected bibliography, websites, two photographs) (Picture book/biography. 6-9)

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May 1, 2016

K-Gr 3-This picture book biography of Olympic gold medalist Nadia Comaneci draws information from accounts written by Comaneci and her coach Bela Karolyi, as well as other sources, to present a somewhat idealized story of a lively little girl who became a champion. Climbing trees, roller skating, biking-Nadia is in constant movement until her mother lands upon the idea of signing her up for gymnastics lessons. Her ability at age six catches the attention of Karolyi, who, with his wife Marta, runs a gymnastics school. The text describes the dedication and years of practice that were required of Nadia, including even difficult moments, such as her 13th-place ranking at her first Romanian Junior National Championships competition. But the cheerful illustrations, rendered in ecoline and colored ink, with colored pencil accents, maintain a buoyant tone throughout. The pictures include a lot of energy, showing Nadia as upbeat and determined. If Comaneci suffered along her road to the Olympics, those details are left out. Several pages are devoted to her record-breaking performances at the 1976 Olympics. A brief afterword fills in later parts of her life, such as winning more medals at the 1980 Olympics and defecting from Romania in 1989.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2016
Grades K-3 The story of Nadia Comaneci gets a treatment as energetic as the gymnast herself. Born in a Romanian village, Nadia couldn't sit still. She skated, rode bikes, and climbed trees. To harness some of that energy, her mother signed her up for gymnastic lessons, where she was spotted by famed coach Bela Karolyi, who took her under his wing. Was she good at first? No, but her dedication took her all the way to the 1976 Olympics. In a delightful passage, author Gray explains the gymnastic scoring: 1 (terrible) to 10 (perfect). Nadia performs an amazing routine, but then receives a 1or so it seems. The scoreboard was only wired to go as high as 9.9 because no one had ever before received a perfect score. Sprightly watercolor illustrations are both strong and springy, capturing Nadia's literal and metaphorical ups and downs as she works hard, fails, and picks herself up. The book ends with a now world-famous Nadia heading home to her village and a note details her latest triumphs, defection to the U.S., and later life.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)