The Happiest Girl in the World

A flawed protagonist aiming for perfection in the very disturbing world of women’s gymnastics. The author manages to elicit both sympathy and judgement for her character in this beautifully written, deeply researched book.

This was a good book, at least in part based on a true story, but a tough book to read. It hard to watch Sera and Lucy deal with pain, injury, molestation, stunted growth, and favoritism. These girls are in pain all of the time. By twelve years old, they’re eating three Advil for breakfast, more to follow later on in the day. By sixteen, it’s six Advil at a time. There are other drugs that are abused, too. These children are starved, treated as if they’re dirt, and used for the good of their trainers’ egos. It’s also hard to watch all that her family gives up to afford Sera’s training and travel, costumes and medical expenses. The last chapter was a bit of fantasy. I suspect it had to be hastily rewritten. In it, Covid arrives just in time to interfere with the 2020 Olympics, which is true. But quickly, Covid restrictions are removed completely, no masks necessary. By spring of 2021, Olympic trials can be held in fully packed stadiums with no mediation at all. I didn’t buy this ending, but I liked the rest of the book. These girls are pushed beyond endurance, beyond exhaustion, to the point of lifelong physical and mental damage. When Sera thinks about quitting because she doesn’t think she can go on, she forces herself because she knows how much debt her family has acquired to allow her to reach such a high level of competition. She want to help them repay those debt through the prize money and sponsorship she will receive if she can make the Olympic team, more if she can win a medal. That weight on a young woman is backbreaking. You need to have a strong stomach to read this book. It will drag you into the darkness and pain that elite gymnastics demands. You’ll come to admire Sera’s determination and willingness to suffer, keeping the big goal in mind. I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley. I thank them for their generosity, but it had no effect on this review. All opinions in this review reflect my true and honest reactions to reading this book.

The Happiest Girl in the World by Alena Dillon is a compelling novel about a young woman’s quest to reach the pinnacle of gymnastics as a member of the US Olympic Team and the toll it takes on her childhood, her body, her family and her friendships. Sera and her best friend Lucy are 9 year olds from Kokomo Indiana, training at an elite gymnastics facility in Indianapolis. They share their dream of participating in the Olympics and are innocently enthusiastic about all the training and pain associated with it. As their talent is recognized, they are sent to a junior national training camp in Texas, run by the Baloghs, whose identities are thinly veiled Marta and Bela Karolyi. There the girls endure endless sessions of physical and mental anguish as they reach for excellence in the sport, and they also experience the attention of the team physician, Eddie Levett, who slyly grooms his victims for sexually inappropriate touching. Levett is certainly a reference to the infamous convicted USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar. The girls’ experiences at the Ranch felt raw and real, and made me remember all the stories in the news about the USA Gymnastics scandal revolving around this doctor and his victims, who were not believed by their coaches and their parents. The story is told from the alternating points of view of Sera, and her mother Charlene Wheeler. That construct is very effective in conveying the hopes and drive of Sera to achieve her dreams, and her mother’s need to find meaning and importance in a world where she thinks she is just another ordinary housewife. Sera’s father is worried, but ineffectual in the face of his wife’s obsession with Sera’s success, and her twin brother Joe is reduced to a background player in the family drama. The narrative is realistic and rings true with its dialogue and observations of Midwest culture. (Born and raised in Wisconsin, I can relate). The writing is clever, with my special appreciation of Sera’s noting the pet elephant in the house, which represents the secrets and unspoken accusations, admissions of guilt and feelings of her family members. “My parents…continued into the house, the elephant lumbering after them.” Having this fictional story set in the real world of gymnastics and the Olympics, with references to recognizable celebrities like Gabby Douglas, makes it even more compelling. Reading about the terrible pain and injuries and training rituals is difficult, and certainly makes it feel absolutely real and true. Conversely, listening to Sera’s inner thoughts about the exhilaration of mastering a difficult trick and flying through the air in perfect control of her body makes the reader realize that elite athletes have a unique spirit and focus that takes them to the highest levels of achievement. In the end, this book is skillfully written and very aptly draws a realistic picture of the price of achieving excellence in athletics and the ripples it sends through the athlete’s life.

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