Swimming With Faith

Swimming With Faith: The Missy Franklin Story
Written by Natalie Davis Miller
Zondervan Publishing
Cost: $6.99
Ages: 10-14 ish; Swimmers of all ages

From the Zondervan Website:

Missy Franklin is one of the most talented swimmers in the world.  She is a four-time Olympic gold medalist and currently holds the world record in the 200-meter backstroke and American records in bother the 100-meter and 200- meter backstroke.  She was Swimming World's World Swimmer of the Year and the American Swimmer of the Year in 2012.  This story tells of her rise in fame and humbleness  in the sport.

Swimming with Faith takes a look into the life of Missy Franklin, mostly focusing on her high school years.  I have to say, we have not had television for about 10 years and I really did not know anything about Missy and what she had been through.  It was an interesting look into the life of a girl with a passion for swimming and goals she was reaching for and convictions to do what she felt was the right thing.  She sounds like an amazing young woman with a big faith in our great God.  I love that she is presented as someone younger people can look up to as an example...I would LOVE to my daughter to read this book.

Right now, as we speak, Missy is competing in Olympic Trials to see if she will have a spot on the 2016 U.S. Olympic Swim Team...so this is unbelievable timing!

So, I did really enjoy the information in this book.  The hard part for me was the writing style.  It read a little more like a newspaper (or something) than a book for me.  There were SO MANY citings in the book that disrupted the flow of the text for me.  This might be the way books are written these days, but I am more used to just having the citings in the back of the book.  This could be a personal thing for me...

Anyway, a cool feature in the back of the book is a swim dictionary to explain what all those swimming terms mean. 13 pages of terms help readers unfamiliar with the terminology keep on reading.

I think this is a fantastic book for young people to read!

* I received this book in exchange for a frank and honest review.  All opinions are my own.  Your results and opinions may vary.