Simone Biles

AUTOBIOGRAPHY/SPORTS
Simone Biles (with Michelle Burford); foreword by Mary Lou Retton
Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, a Life in Balance
Zondervan
Hardcover, 978-0-3107-5966-9 (also available as an e-book, an audio book, and on Audible), 256 pgs., $24.99
November 15, 2016

This is the story of a little girl who fell in love with flying.

Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance is the autobiography of gymnast Simone Biles (with an assist from Michelle Burford, journalist and show more founding editor of O, The Oprah Magazine), with a foreword by 1984 Olympic gold-medal winner Mary Lou Retton. Despite her tender age, Biles has an exceptional biography and an impressive resume to share, overcoming challenging family circumstances, injuries, and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder to become the most decorated American female gymnast in history, culminating in triumph at the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The usual sports-biography fare of innate talent, dedication, physical and mental discipline, and inspiring epigraphs, is well balanced with the more personal, even intimate. We are treated to a tangible sense of who Biles is. She’s an animated storyteller whose personality jumps off the pages in simply evocative prose. When she must, Biles reluctantly, but gracefully and succinctly, addresses the issue of race. In paragraphs liberally spiked with “OMG” and “BFF,” we read of belly rings and her crush on Zac Efron, reminding us of how very young she still is.

Courage to Soar is fast-paced and engaging, highly recommended for middle grade and young adult readers, but older adults will enjoy it as well. Biles writes of her early years in foster care, her first trip to a tumbling gym during a field trip, adolescent body consciousness, truly frightening mishaps on the uneven bars (her “nemesis”), her first trip to the Karolyi training ranch outside Huntsville, Texas, and how her Catholic upbringing and faith in God helped guide her through.

The writing is by turns funny, suspenseful, moving, and inspirational, and always feels honest. Addressing her “bratty period,” Biles writes “I was so full of fourteen-year-old drama, you’d have thought I was auditioning for my own reality show.” Faced with competing against her childhood idols whose approval and friendship are important to her, Biles finally concludes, “Competing my hardest in all my events was the highest form of respect I could show to them and to myself.” About the mixed blessing of fame, Biles found the perfect simile: “I needed to learn how to carry those expectations lightly—like a turtle carries its shell.”

Lovely candid and posed photographs, in action during competitions and with family, enhance the story. As an inspired bonus, the interior side of the dust jacket folds out into an autographed poster of Biles hurtling through air over the vault.

“The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses—behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.”
—Muhammad Ali

Originally published in Lone Star Literary Life. show less

Really great autobiography by/with Simone Biles. Comes across as a really delightful and dedicated human being, with a spectacular family behind her. Her story is interesting and inspiring.

Funny and sweet this was a quick, fun read. Simone's personality really came through, and it was interesting to read about her training and all the amazing effort and sacrifice that contributed to her skills.

This is a book about Simone Biles. When she was a child her and her siblings (Ashley, Tevin, and Adria) had to go and live with her grandparents because her mom was a drug addict. Eventually her grandparents have custody of her and she calls them Mom and Dad. When she is 6 she goes to gymnastics for the first time. She continues it and becomes an elite gymnast at 18. She goes to her first World Championship at age 15. She continues to be one of the best gymnast for the next 2 1/2 years show more leading up to the 2016 Olympics. At the olympics she wins 4 gold medals (Team all-around, individual all-around, floor, and vault.) and 1 bronze medal (balance beam). She continues to do incredibly at the World Championships and at the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart she becomes the most decorated gymnast of all time.

I thought this book was pretty well done. It seemed pretty genuine which can be a problem in some biographies. She did a good job explaining different things about gymnastics. She also told stories about when she was younger. The book explained different workouts that she had to do and the things she had to give up to become an elite gymnast . show less