Trouble in the Gym

The Gymnasts #5

by Elizabeth Levy

Some things never change. Becky still loves to see the Pinecones lose. That's been happening a lot since Ti An joined the team. The former Atomic Amazon is a good gymnast, but she always messes up at meets What's really strange, though, is that one of the girls on the Atomic Amazon team always does exactly the same vault as Lauren. It's got to be more than a coincidence. Lauren thinks there's a spy in the gym.

Genres: Childrens

144 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1989

About the author

Elizabeth Levy has been writing and publishing books for over thirty years and sometimes now she meets kids whose parents read her books when they were children! She has written over 80 books, a number that continues to surprise her, as it surprises her how long she's been at it.

Over the years they've printed lots of her books - over five million of them.

She loves to try writing different types of books - everything from funny mysteries to novels about kids who get in trouble to history.

One of the most pleasant surprises about writing is that she's been invited to travel all over the country and even the world speaking to children, teachers, and librarians. She's made some wonderful friendships and gotten lots of ideas for her books. One of the most special treats is that kids have drawn wonderful pictures of one of her favorite characters, Fletcher.

She grew up in Buffalo, New York, then went to Brown University, where she majored in history. When she graduated, she came to New York City and worked for ABC-TV and then for Senator Robert Kennedy. She has lived in New York ever since, and she loves it. She knows all the best places for salami, she has run four marathons, and she has completed many 5-borough bike tours, so she thinks she really knows this place well.

At certain times of the year, she can be found out at Shea Stadium watching her team, the New York Mets. She has always loved baseball.

Mostly she enjoys hanging out with her friends. They spend lots of time going to movies or plays, playing sports, having meals together.

When she's alone and not writing, she is usually reading. She reads mysteries a lot, always has, which is probably why many of her books are mysteries.

Reviews

[Kate H · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is a bit cheesy but I loved it growing up because I always wanted to take gymnastics but we did not have the funds to afford it. It is fairly realistic in the level of skill that girls obtain and it gives you plenty of gymnastics whilst still allowing for real lie stories and difficulties in the books.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ti An's first appearance in the series, although we don't actually find out why she's ditched the Atomic Amazons to join Patrick's in this book. It's Lauren's POV and we don't really get to know Ti An all that much through her eyes.

It's quite awesome though, because suddenly the Amazons are ALL doing Lauren's vaults, and after the second meet where this happens she starts to think there's a spy in the gym... and little Ti An fits the bill. I guessed pretty early on that it was Becky's evil cousin, and that was confirmed when she randomly asked Lauren the name of her vault. But I liked the way Lauren caught the culprit, by telling Ti An in secret she was doing one vault, and telling Kirsten in secret that she was doing another, and then seeing which the other team wound up copying!

[Lexi Atkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

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