The Comeback by E. L. Shen

4 Stars | E. L. Shen | 2021 | Realistic Fiction | Grades 4-6  | 272pages 

| 4 1/2 Hours Audio  

I read this book while I was watching the summer Olympics and found myself counting the months until I can watch Olympic ice skating.  This book gives you an inside view of what an ice-skating athlete has to do in order to be an excellent ice skater with hopes of being in the Olympics. 

Maxine is twelve years old, goes to middle school, is Chinese American, and lives in Lake Placid, New York. She is also a very talented ice skater and has hopes of being good enough to go to the Olympics someday.  She practices, competes, goes to school, and deals with the complexities of middle school. One of her classmates bullies her with unkind remarks and jokes about her ethnicity. She also learns that she has feelings of envy with some of her friendships on the ice.  In a typical middle-grade book, Maxine has to navigate new experiences and emotions as she leaves childhood and moves into her future teen years. 

I recommend getting this book especially since the Winter Olympics will be here soon!