Cheerleading Books

His opening paradigm (chapter 1) is remarkable. I remember it, even years later! And how he builds on that is excellent. One of his best.

Like some other Christian authors, Lucado has such a large library of books that deciding on one can be daunting for a new comer.
So, if you've never read anything by Lucado before, I recommend you start right here.
"In the Grip of Grace" is by far my favorite work by Max.
Enjoy!

Also recommended: He Still Moves Stones and When God Whispers Your Name

I was drifting from the church. I had (and continue to have) a different perspective on the church from certain issues. I was taking a "don't ask, don't tell" approach to homosexuality, basically saying, what they want to do is between them and God, and it's not the role of man to place judgment on them for that. And certainly not the role of man (or church) to LEGISLATE morality. But, before I get someone ripping my head off for that opinion, you can imagine that it isn't popular in the church.

When I read this book, I saw so many people in the Church in the role of the second brother in the parable of the river. The Fault-Finding Judgmentalist. And at that point I was instantly hooked into this book. I felt like this was someone who saw things from my perspective, whether he agreed with me or not. He could at least see what I was thinking, of this much I was assured. He doesn't mention any of those controversial topics explicitly, but I feel like the interpretation is valid.

Simply put, I came away feeling a greater love and appreciation for God, and feeling thankful for His grace that has saved me. I'm still more far from the Church than I would prefer. It will take awhile for me to find my way completely back. But guided by my re-growing faith, and books like this, I won't be gone forever.

My review is not meant to be a beautiful write up for Max, I am sure he is a great guy, but hey, even his insurance company has problems with him. (I must be a the judgemental type) This book helped me realize that no matter how hard I try or how hard I think I am trying its not good enough. I cant jump to the moon, I cant make it up the river alone, and I cant place a value of a sin and try to "repay it with good". I am helpless. The book made me feel uncompfortable and small, but compared to God I think thats exactly how we have to feel to even accept his grace let alone understand it.

I reccomend this book to anyone who is desperate enough to listen. Dont read this for entertainment, Max is funny, but not that funny. Read it if you want to change. I know I did.

Thanks Max, for allowing God to use you as His megaphone.

I have been a church goer my whole life and just went with the flow, never really in touch with God...until I read this book. I read it, and it turned me right around. This book will make you embrace the grace of an awesome God. If your life is off track this book will show you what is being offered to you, and if you've already accepted your forgiveness, this book will make you smile when you think of what an awesome God you serve. I love this book because it shows me how much God truly loves me and it sparked me into reading my bible daily and leading a different life. I love the joy that this book portrays that we Christians need to remember and embrace daily.

I read this book in high school...late 70's/early 80's. I see it's been rereleased. I loved it then and recently came across it while sorting through memorabilia so read it again and still love it. A truly timeless story that any girl who remembers the social and academinc pressures of high school can relate to. A must read!!!

I have read and re-read this book, along with the subsequent ones in the series (Snowy, Henrietta Snow, and recently The Husband's Bench) and never tire of them. I grew up in the 70's, but the town where I went to high school was very much a "small town", and was the town where my mother had grown up, gone to high school and yes, been a cheerleader in the 50's. Like Snowy, my childhood home now houses a business, our high school hangout was demolished, a new high school was built, and on and on. The characters in these books are so real that I always find myself loathe to finish the book and have to leave them. Snowy, Tom, Bev, Puddles, Charl, Darl, Dudley.... I feel like all of them are my friends. I cannot recommend this book, or the rest of the series highly enough.

My aunt lent me a copy of this book when I was about 15 years old. The Cheerleader came out before I was born and 2 of my aunts loved the story, so they felt sharing it with me was appropriate. I in turn passed it on to my friends and a revival of Snowy, Tom, Puddles and Bev began. Imagine the thrill of seeing a sequel 20 years later..Snowy! And then the books that followed "the gang". I haven't enjoyed this author's other stories (outside of the "Snowy") ones nearly as much as this, but once you read The Cheerleader, be sure to follow up with the rest of them!

Every once in a while a novel comes along that for some reason never seems to become a huge bestseller or make its author famous and renowned, but that is so note-perfect that the few who read it gobble it up like an addictive drug, pass it on to their friends (who never return the copy lent to them) and never forget it. THE CHEERLEADER is just such a novel. It captures right down to the smallest detail the way life was for an ambitious high-school girl growing up in a small town in New Hampshire in the 1950s. By doing so, it becomes a novel with which any woman (American, anyway) of any era can identify. Snowy's world, her parents, her school, her friends, her teachers, her hopes and her dreams are all drawn here with a truth that is almost painful. Once you read it, it stays with you forever...and you want more stories about her, which the author has supplied, thanks to fan demand, in the form thus far of SNOWY, HENRIETTA SNOW and, now, THE HUSBAND BENCH (which focuses on the life of Snowy's friend Bev, and which I have already pre-ordered). The book I can compare this to most is Betty Smith's A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN--another example of a novel that hits a timeless chord with its readers yet, thanks to some strange quirk of fate, has failed to make its author as well known as she should be. If you've read TREE and haven't read THE CHEERLEADER and its sequels, do yourself a favor and start now. If you haven't read any of these books, what are you waiting for? Pull up a chair, a glass of your favorite beverage and lose yourself in the worlds of Francie and Snowy. It'll be some of the best reading time you've ever spent. Warning, though: don't lend out your copy of THE CHEERLEADER to anyone; chances are you won't get it back!

I first read this when I was 16, in the 1970s. I don't know how MacDougall got a drug-addled, school-vandalizing little punker to identify with a straight-A, student council member, 1950s cheerleader, but instead of resenting Snowy, I loved her and cared what happened to her. MacDougall does a fantastic job of giving the physical details of a 1950s adolescence: the smell of Noxzema and Cashmere Bouquet, the revolving fads of ice-cream bucket purses and turned-up collars. Maybe that's why I understood, even though my fads involved satin windbreakers, purple concert kits, and patchwork jeans: like Snowy, I simultaneously wanted to fit in with the crowd and to remain my own person. Ironically, by using the tiniest specifics of a mid-twentieth-century high school experience, MacDougall has given us a world and a character that readers from any era will somehow find recognizable.

I really enjoyed this book and could hardly put it down. The reason I gave it three stars was that I found the written descriptions of the stunts, etc. REALLY hard to picture in my mind's eye, and it was frustrating. Obviously, I am NOT an ex-cheerleader!

So that's what drags my score down. Now, that "faux movie trailer" here on Amazon REALLY helped me envision the moves. It was cool to see the three teams "come to life." It is AMAZING what these true athletes can do.

I have been in the cheerleading world for 11+ years, competing at high school, collegic and All Star level. Reading this book was a great experience for me as I no longer get to cheer in the college environment, but do miss it. Reading this book was a walk down memory lane for me.

In some places throughout the book, I had trouble following the descriptions of the of the routines. I would have done better with the use of the technical terms of each move, rather than the verbose descriptions, as I didn't really have the patients to read the full descriptions. I'm not sure how they will translate to someone who is not familiar with the sport.

What is really exciting about this book is the accuracy. Many modern portrayals of cheerleading treat it as a joke. This book explains the sport, why it's difficult, how dangerous the sport really is and isn't. It is really refreshing in that aspect.

There is a word of caution: THIS BOOK COVERS MATURE CONTENT. There are references to the very ugly sides of college cheerleading like: drug use, and eating disorders. As a coach, I wish this book had taken a stronger stance against these practices. There are MANY college cheerleaders who do not take drugs, and who do not have eating restrictions. This is a very sensitive subject, and I would hate for young cheerleaders to aspire to this type of behavior because of heroes found in this book.

All in all, this was a good book, and I would recommend it.

What do you really know about cheerleading? Not the silly dance-stepping of Lakers girls, but competitive cheerleading, where extreme athletes fight to get into the colleges with the best teams, and train obsessively to compete in National Championships, where trained gymnasts are thrown thirty feet into the air with only the hope that their partner will catch them before they hit the ground. Kate Torgovnick has done a fascinating job of reporting, and this book will open your eyes to a whole new sport.

In the Authors Note to CHEER!, Kate Torgovnick writes that "I wanted to fell the story of competitive cheerleading." MS. Torgovnick thus informs the reader that hers is to be a non-fiction journalistic endeaver. Kate reinforces this understanding between writer and reader by thanking her high school teacher for making Kate the journalist that she is today.
"Journalism" is defined in the American Heritage Dictionary as "[t]he style of writing characteristic of material in newspapers and magazines, consisting of direct presentation of facts or occurrences with little attempt at analysis or interpretation." Think: Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Joe "Nothing-But-The-Facts" Friday; "fly-on-the-wall" reporting.
When Ms. Torgovnick decides to be a journalist, her writing is nothing short of phenomenal. She has an uncanny ability to create images, most notably of people, by the use of unique vocabulary. Her blondes are not the trite and overused "platinum", her large men not "Hercules". The descriptions were all fresh. Kate also has a remarkable talent for conveying emotions simply and efficiently. For instance, when Southern University Coach James is pounding that floor a this teams' final performance, I'm right there with him, ecstatic for both him and his team. (To be honest, I found myself crying?!?) Ms. Torgovnick has a deft ear for conversations. I believe them to be accurate in their retelling. Finally, MS. Torgovnick is a very good interviewer. She asks short, simple, and intelligent questions that compel mor than a "yes" or "no", and then gets out of the way and lets the answers flow.
And for 95% of the book, Kate decides to be a journalist. The book only veers from perfection when Kate occasionally abandons journalist and either (1) becomes an opinionist, or, even worse, (2) becomes part of the story.
As an example of the first cited offense, I offer up the writing on page 64. On her first trip to Stephen F. Austin University, Kate met Coach Brad. On her second trip she learned that Coach Brad had quit to take another job out of state. When discussing the resignation of SFA Coach Brad, team member Kali Seitzer says that she is not good with change. Kate responded "Neither am I. What had seemed like a sure-win year just a few months ago now seems like a gamble." These sentences cause real problems for Kate. First, as a reader I've got to ask: Who cares what Kate thinks? Nobody ever cares what the fly thinks. Just report the facts, i.e. what the team members think! Second, as a reader I've got to be annoyed with Kate: It is awfully presumptuous of her to think that in a few short weeks of watching only three squads she feels capable of assessing a team's chances in nationals when she obviously has no real experience in the field and she has not seen the many other squads. Third, as a reader I've got to ask: On what basis are you making this proclamation? You are a journalist - present me the facts to support your conclusion. But of course, she didn't provide any factual support for her claim.
A fantastic journalistic opportunity on the issue of safety training is lost when Ms Torgovnick merely notes her distaste with the training (page 66), rather than delve into the issue and develop the problem and the proposed cure.
Kate asks what I consider to be a brilliant question regarding steroid, to wit - "I wonder if performance enhancer use could be a side effect of so many coaches right out of college rather than the absolute "adults" who coach other sports?", but then fails to put back on her journalistic cap and do some research and develop the argument. Especially in this testosterone-drenched era, when every participants in cycling to beach volleyball is suspect, Ms. Torgovnicj had, but dropped, the opportunity to blow this subject wide open in the world of cheerleading.
My advice is to either keep your opinions to yourself or make them, but then follow them up with journalistic investigation and reporting.
The other glaring error was in Kate's becoming a character in her story rather than an outside observer. She admits as much on page 85 when, reporting about Southern U's teak prayer for victory the following day, kate writes "...I am no longer just observing. I am a part of the circle holding hands with the team, my head bowed too....All I want in this moment is for them to win tomorrow."
In my humble opinion, Kate, as merely a chronicler of events, should have "no dog in this race."
There was one point in the book that absolutely enraged me; that caused me to want to hurl the book into the roaring fireplace. At pages 140-141, when writing about the feeling of a Southern U. cheerleader from New Orleans whose family was impacted by Hurricane Katrina, Kate wrote "...While the situation in New Orleans got worse, the government seemingly turning its back on rescue efforts because the grand majority of the people remaining in the city were black." This Liberal canard is demonstrably untrue, and the publication of it unfortunately establishes Ms. Torgovnick's ignorance and liberal bias.
I have a small quibble regarding the physical stunts. Although each stunt was adequately described in words, both in the text and in a Dictionary at the back of the book, I still wanted either a picture (or series of pictures" of each stunt, or at the minimum a drawing or graphic.
Finally, I found one spelling error and one grammatical error. This is surprising to see considering the publisher is the well respected Simon and Shuster. An editor is supposed to cover your back, not stab it.
While I seem to have spent the vast majority of this review picking apart this book, it is not really the case. I consider this book to be a major tour de force and the author to be an up and coming star in the field of Modern American Journalism.
So only two questions remain -
(1) What is next for Ms. Torgovnick? I can't believe that Kate wants at the end of her career to be known as the Queen of the cheerleading literature genre. Hopefully she has aspirations that far exceed in seriousness the world of cheerleading. The world of politics beckons Kate to next turn her guns.
(2) Can Ms. Torgovnick grow? Can she attain wisdom in correlation to her biological clock? One does not ordinarily expect such from an "Ivy League" alumna from New York City, but Kate is no ordinary liberal. Kate's May 2006 JANE article, "Welcome to Screw U." demonstrates that she DOES get it, that she is capable of mature (i.e. conservative) thought.
I'm a big fan and I'm look forward to future books!
***Full disclosure: I am Ms Torgovnick's oldest first cousin. Her father and my mother are brother and sister.***
BTW - LCLM - "Land clean, land mean"

Cheer Three Teams on a Quest for College Cheerleading's Ultimate Prize follows three college cheer squads as they work towards their ultimate goal....a national cheer championship. From tryouts to the final competition Kate Torgovnick accompanies the three teams, all girl team from Memphis State, the Stephen F. Austin coed team, and the team from historically black college Southern University. These squads mirror much of the realities on any college athletic program. The big programs, the proven winners, have school funding, scholarships and heavy expectations from alumni as well as themselves. The all girl squad has to scramble and compete with the coed squad to get scholarships, financial backing, their own coaching and respect, even though they are proven winners. Southern University has to raise the money to travel and to find a championship competition to enter, as the stages Black colleges evaporate, despite being a proven crowd draw. Cheerleaders have their own struggles....leaving school to care for an ailing parent, romances, "ringchasing" (transferring from one program to another in hopes of winning a championship ring), balancing work and school, injuries, pregnancies, eating disorders and coaching changes. No matter what, they are expected to bound onto the field with endless enthusiasm and cheer.


I have to admit a bias; I am a band geek, through and through. After growing up in Texas, I swore no child of mine would do either of these two things... cheerleading or football. I forgot to tell my children! During their high school years I developed a healthy respect for the amount of work and athleticism involved in cheer. I also developed a deep dread that still rises in my throat when watching a particularly dangerous stunt or a missed catch. Torgovnick follows each squad throughout their year and is able to show the inner workings of the sport, warts and all. The challenges each program faces seem insurmountable at times. Ultimately it is the individuals behind the smiles that carry the squad. She treats the participants with respect and steps back just enough to be honest. Cheer was an unexpected good read.

This book is a pleasure to read from cover-to-cover. The author clearly loves her subject matter and infuses the history of cheerleading with fun and good humor. I especially loved the photographs. The book would make a great TV documentary. Since reading "Cheerleader", I have ordered all of Ms. Stein's other books.

I loved this book! The pictures are great where did she find them? It's a great gift for anyone interested in cheerleading and a fun read even for people who aren't.

From matching sweaters and pompons to coke and candy posters and ads, the allure of cheerleads in culture and advertising has long been evident in American culture, and here is captured by Elissa Stein in her visual celebration Cheerleader: Ready? Okay! From a history of cheerleading to cheerleader fashion, Cheerleader: Ready? Okay! captures the energy, excitement and changes of the best.

The photographs are amazing. The content is witty and well researched. A great gift for anyone who was a cheerleader--or for those of us who just looked on from the bleachers.

I loved this book! The great illustrations brought back memories of freezing at the big game, yelling myself hoarse when our team made the goal, and thoroughly enjoying myself. It's a must to take to your reunion.

This book was so awesome.I finished the first day I got it!...I really enjoyed this book and I think that you will too!

This is the review of my eight year old daughter, who loves Mary Kate and Ashley enough that she checks out all their books at the library and begs me to buy them in the store.

Who ever knew that Cheerleading Camp could be so vicious? Someone is trying to sabotage Ashley in her quest to become the square leader for the Cheerleading Camp. Who was doing it? You were given so many suspects that it was impossible to know. You were given 1 clue as to the true villain and that was clue was misleading. It's no surprise that the ending was a surprise!

It was a Mary Kate and Ashley book and that almost got it 4 stars alone, but she just didn't think it was good enough for that.

I was amazed by the depth of character development and the allegory presented in this learned thesis. Its brilliance in appearing as a novel for adolescence is soon usurped by the clever machinations of the protagonist which belie the stories darker, yet socially important, nature. This work has opened up a whole new world of understanding regarding the subconscious stratification of social oligarchies in secondary institutions of education. Any would-be existentialist would be remiss if they did not read this (or the original work in Latin).
While somewhat hard to digest if perused flippantly, meticulous and seriatim analysis of this tome will ameliorate its initial opaqueness and even aid the most recalcitrant misanthrope to gain an incisive, if abstruse, vignette into the potential of the human psyche.

This is a great little mystery book. I just read this to my 7 year old son who is a mary kate and Ashley fan.

This mystery kept us both guessing til the end. Just when we thought we have it figured out the twins found more clues!!

I thought this book was great. In this book Ashley wanted to to be captain of the cheerleading team but 3 other girls wanted to also. So they had a vote. That's when Ashley started having problems. Someone stole her lucky pom-poms. Someone had written nasty cheers for her. She found itching powder in her sneakers. And that was just the beginning! Someone was trying to make sure Ashley lost the vote-no matter what! My favorite part of the book was when Mary-Kate and Ashley kept think some one did all of the things to Ashley, they find clues that lead to someone else! To find out what happens next and who wrote the nasty cheers, who stole her lucky pom-poms and who put itching powder in her sneakers, read The Case of the Cheerleading Camp Mystery.

This was very witch like. It's very different from other witch books. It's a likable read and I would really recommend it to people who really are interested in to these type of books.

I hate spoiler reviews so just know that if you buy this book, you will not be disappointed. It's adorable. I'm looking forward to the sequel! :)

I wont go into details about the story since others have already done this.
I think this is a great book for teens, whether you're a cheerleader or not. It has a mixture of everyday teen drama (making friends, being popular, boy trouble, and getting good grades) with the paranormal twist of being at a school for witches.

Also recommended:
Kieran Scott - I Was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader
Sarah Mlynowski - Bras & Broomsticks
Sarah Mlynowski - Frogs & French Kisses

Sixteen-year-old Prudence "Pru" Stewart knows Beverly Hills, California like the back of her hand. After all, she's lived there since birth, and, even though she's not allowed to practice the magic she was born with, she's always had everything. At least in the bubble of Beverly Hills High, where she was not only popular and smart, but about to be named the youngest captain of the varsity cheerleading squad in Beverly Hills High history. But all that changes when her pesky little brother, the Dorklock, begins having trouble containing his magic. Suddenly, Pru is uprooted from her privileged, posh life, and forced to grow accustomed to Salem, Massachusetts, where her and her little bro are forced to attend Agatha's Day School for Witches. The Dorklock doesn't mind, of course, considering he's been placed in the gifted and talented classes at school. But things are much different for Pru. The fact that she's hardly used magic in the last sixteen-years of her life has left her behind the curve, and suddenly she finds herself in a long list of remedial classes, struggling to keep up with witches half her age. As if that weren't bad enough, cheerleading is practically out of the question. Instead of doing routines on solid ground, the squad at Agatha's is completely magic-driven, leaving Pru on the outs, once again. But that doesn't stop her from heading off to tryouts, and attempting to compete against the best of the best. After all, Pru has been a cheerleader long enough to realize that practice makes perfect. And if she wants to make it at Agatha's, she's going to have to practice 'til smoke comes out of her ears.

The cover illustration of THE SALEM WITCH TRYOUTS is eye-catching enough to grab your attention, but it's Kelly McClymer's fabulous storyline that will keep you reading long into the night. Pru is the girl you'd love to hate, but her sweet personality makes that near-impossible; while her adjustments to leaving Beverly Hills and growing accustomed to Salem, Massachusetts keep you sympathizing with the peppy little witch. From spells gone awry, to in-the-air cheerleading, McClymer keeps the reader on the edge of their seat from beginning to end, leaving them with a cliff-hanger that will surely have them scrambling after the next book in the series. Mixing a touch of "Bewitched" and a dash of "Legally Blonde," McClymer has created a character who will touch your heart, and keep you rooting for her from beginning to end.

Erika Sorocco
Freelance Reviewer

For Prudence Stewart, sixteen, leaving behind her home and school in Beverly Hills to move to Salem, Massachusetts, is more than just an inconvenience. She's worked for years to get where she is--which is near the top of the Beverly Hills High School popularity list. Right before she was to be named the youngest head cheerleader ever, her parents announced the move to Salem. It seems that Pru's younger brother, Dorklock (or, if you prefer, Tobias), needs to attend school in Salem, where he can get a handle on his powers. Yes, powers. Oh, did I forget to mention that Pru and Dorklock are the half-mortal, half-witch children of their four-hundred-year-old mother, Patience?

Yes, Patience Stewart is a witch. And although her husband is a mortal and still freaks at the thought of magic, he's realized that his children need to be in a place where they can attend schools that are specifically designed for witches. So off the family drives to Salem (much to Pru's disbelief; after all, her mom zapped their furniture to their new home, but they have to drive?), where Pru quickly realizes that her former popularity and academic excellence don't mean much at Agatha's Day School for Witches.

It's bad enough that for her sixteen years back in Beverly Hills her mother had discouraged her from using magic. Now she's changed her tune--use magic for this, practice your magic on that. But Pru is woefully lacking in the magic department. She's been put in remedial classes (remedial? the horror!), the students at Agatha's stare at her as if she's some type of mutant freak, she still hasn't manifested a Talent, and she has to actually try out for the cheerleading squad. Try out. Her, Miss Was-Going-To-Be-The-Youngest-Head-Cheerleader-In-History. Yes, Salem is turning out to be a real pain.

I loved THE SALEM WITCH TRYOUTS! A truly original twist on being the new kid in a brand new school, it's fun and interesting to watch Prudence develop her powers, interact with students who think mortals are a new type of abnormality, and learn what it means to be a cheerleader on a squad that uses magic in their routines. I really hope there are more books planned in this series--and if the pimple-inducing spell at the end of the book is any indication, there will be!

I REALLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK. IT WAS HILARIOUS AND-I GOTTA ADMIT- I WAS GLAD TO SEE HEATHER GET FLUSTERED FOR ONCE. PEACE OUT Y'ALL.

This book in the 3 book series was by far the best! Jessica and the squad go to nationals! Once they are there they find their competition is going to be Heather Mallone's old school! When Heather messes up on a well known rountine Jessica suspects more then just her nerves. She believes something sticky is going on and Marrissa James is probably behind it. PLUS! If you love Ken, Todd, and Winston, the make us all laugh in this one, doing almost anything to get closer to the girls! and I mean anything! If you are wondering about getting this book don't wonder anymore, "Just Do It!"

This book is the third book in a mini series when Jessica and her cheerleading team go to the nationals. It is really exciting and funny. I think this is one every Sweet Valley fan should read.

This book is about the Sweet Valley cheering squad and how Jessica leads them to victory with rival and arch enemy Heather Mallone. In the competition they meet Heathers' old squad who heard that svh would be their biggest rival so they try to sabotage svh's performance by blackmailing Heather about her past. But the ending really has you surprised. I think this is one of the best Sweet Valley books.

The SVH cheerleading squad has made it to the Nationals, where they'll compete against the best in the country. Among their rivals is Reno, Heather's old squad. Marissa James, the captain of the Reno squad, seems to have some sort of power of Heather. What could it be? Ken and Todd are desperately trying to make up to Elizabeth and Jessica. So what do they do? They go to Yosemite, of course! But when Todd, Ken, and Winston get down there, and find out that no boys are allowed at the competition, they decide to take some drastic measures. Will the SVH Cheerleaders manage to overcome their obstacles and take the title?

THE ACCIDENTAL CHEERLEADER is a FANTASTIC book. Sophie and Kylie are best friends, but they both try out for the cheerleading team. Sophie is a cheerleader,but Kylie is the mascot. They get into a fight. They say they don't want to be friends and everything is ruined. Will Sophie and Kylie be friends again? People who love books about feelings and teenagers should read this book. Read The Accidental Cheerleader to find out if Sophie and Kylie are friends.

Sophie and her best friend,Kylie,are the perfect team.
Kylie has a wild side while Sophie is thoughtful and shy.
Together, the two of them can do anything.
But when Kylie signs them both up for cheerleading tryouts, it's Sophie who lands in the spotlight, and Kylie ends up on the sidelines.
Soon, Sophie feels torn between her best friend and her fellow cheerleaders.
Can Sophie and Kylie rediscover how to root for each other...before the clock runs out on their friendship?

The Accidental Cheerleader

By: Elizabeth

The book I wrote about is The Accidental Cheerleader. Sophie and Kylie are best friends forever. Well almost forever. After Kylie signs Sophie and her self up for cheerleading tryouts, Kylie doesn't make the squad. Will Sophie and Kylie still be friends? When Sophie found out she made the squad she was a little mad at Kylie. But when Kylie finds out she is the school mascot, which happens to be a mule, she is furious.
What will happen when Joel Sophie's "friend" asks her to dance and the cheerleaders want her to dance with them? She doesn't think she fits in with the cheerleaders when she shows up at the dance without her party clothes. The author Mimi Mc Coy uses great dialog to make the reader feel like they're in the story. Read on to see how she solves her dilemma.

If you are looking for an adventure book that has fun on every page, you should check out THE ACCIDENTAL CHEERLEADER. It's about two seventh-grade girls who try out for cheerleading, but what they don't know is that one of them made it onto the squad and the other is stuck being the school mascot.

After tryouts everything went downhill. Sophie doesn't know if the life of a cheerleader is her thing. What if her best bud, Kyle, isn't having fun? Should she stay with the most popular girls in school (and on the squad) or should she go back with her real friends? If she goes back to hanging out with Kyle, will she forgive Sophie for using her?

I think you should read this book because it has non-stop action! I give it 5 stars!

Reviewed by: Liz

This is THE book for everyone including gym owners and parents. The Back Handspring is the premier trick needed by both gymnasts and cheerleaders.

As a former gym owner,and a Mom, I highly recommend it. This book takes the mystery out of the skill and breaks it down into easy to learn pieces. Safety is the number one concern when learning this skill and Coach Rik makes safety an integral part of the learning process.

This book is for everyone (coaches, students, owners and parents) that wants a "How To" manual on this skill.

I will be the first one in line when he writes another book on skills.

Keep "flipping" those pages.

Rayelynn Henderson

Like the author, I have probably spotted a million back handsprings. I found this book to be a great refresher for someone who is an "expert" but also useful to those who are just beginning. If you follow the author's guidelines and work through to the end of the book you really will learn a back handspring. This book is easy to read and the directions are clear and concise.

Written by former competitive gymnast and current trainer Rik Feeney, Back Handsprings: the Secret Techniques is a straightforward guide for cheerleaders, gymnasts, dancers, martial artists, and choreographers. Chapters cover the four areas that any athlete needs to work on in order to master the back handspring: conditioning, training, environment, and desire. Black-and-white photographs and diagrams illustrate the step-by-step instructions to strengthening muscles, aligning one's body properly, performing appropriate training drills, and more. "In both the handstand and the back handspring, it is very important that you position your hands correctly to prevent injury to the wrists, elbows, and arms. If your hands are turned out, you can cause the elbows to lock which could lead to hyperextension injuries, dislocations, or worse." A "must-have" for anyone seeking to master the back handspring.

written so that if a child is reading it, she'll understand it.
very helpful for a beginner and advanced. Drills and skills to straighten out problem backhandsprings. best book out there
for this skill.

This book was amazing and kept you at the edge of your seat the whole time. It shows friendship in a great way and is a perfect book for ages of all young girls.

THis book taught me many of things that i haden't already knew about children. IT was really cool too. THere is a lot of ideas in this. Well i am not going to tell you all about it soo you can read it.

This is the best book on cheerleading that I have ever read! It gives tips on uniforms, tryouts, pep rallies and much more. I think that ever cheerleader should read this fabulous book because it definately will make people way better cheerleaders!