Shannon Miller: My Child, My Hero

I really enjoyed this book. I have read many gymnastics autobiographies and biographies. It was refreshing to read this book, which was coming from Shannon's mother's point of view. This is likely a book I will read again.

My daughter is a gymnasist. She needed a book for a report. She really enjoyed this. It was good for her to learn the sacrafices this level of gymasist have to make. Great book.

what a whiner

As a Shannon Miller fan, I thoroughly enjoyed her mother's detailed book!

My first edition is signed by Claudia Miller. I found this to be fascinating. You get Shannon's mother's perspective on her daughter's gymnastics career. Plus, you hear from Shannon's mother sharing the inside scoop on how often Shannon competed injured. I have a newfound respect, more of it, of Shannon, my favorite gymnast.

This book is good for these reasons: It gives you a lot of insight as to what was going on behind the scenes of Shannon's career: how much she competed in pain, what caused the injuries, the actual lack of time she spent training fully and still competed wonderfully in competition, etc. It also was interesting to see the mother's perspective, for better or for worse. Some things written in this book are a little disturbing. For instance, Claudia Miller's (and seemingly Shannon's) fanatical Christian Science faith. As much as I am all about the freedom to practice, it seemed that she mentions leaving everything in "God's Hands" and non-religious people will get a little exasperated at the numerous references. I think there were some situations where they needed to take the situation in their OWN hands: for instance, times when Steve Nunno was a bit out of line. You may be surprised at how much of a little child Steve Nunno acted like, even with Mrs. Miller's "turn the other cheek" way of explaining his behavior and situations. Indeed I believe Steve had good intentions and is not a BAD person, it did seem that his temper overcame him too much and personally I did not agree with a lot of his methods. However, that's just MY opinion (all of which really means nothing!) I believe Shannon was a strong enough person to deal with him, though, but perhaps did not need to be subject to the borderline abuse she received. All in all, you will enjoy learning the little things that went on and what her early career was like. A definite buy!

This book was informative in regards to Shannon's awards and achievments. However it would have made a much better read if we got to know both Shannon and her family on a more personal level.

I enjoyed this book when it first came out, and at twenty six years of age, I still read it. Her mother did a fantastic job of filling in the time spent off the camera between competitions. This is not like other gymnast biographies that just relay the information we can see on television. This really explains Shannon's feelings, her struggles and personal victories. If you are looking for a basic overview of her gymnastic career intended to be read by children, look to Krista Quiner's biography. If you want to know more about Shannon and her life, written by a competent adult, buy this book.

BOOK DAMAGED FROM CUSTOMER MISS ALISON JANE GRAY