Gold Medal Summer

Donna Freitas

Jul 2012 · Blackstone Audio Inc. · Narrated by Jaselyn Blanchard

About this audiobook

Joey Jordan loves gymnastics: the thrill of performing a backflip on the beam, the cheers of the audience when she sticks a landing. But even with all her talent and style, she’s never quite made it to that gold medal stand. Now big changes shake up Joey’s life in and out of the gym. Joey wants to break out some daring new beam and floor routines—but she’ll have to defy her strict coach to do it. Her best friend, Alex, is thinking about quitting gymnastics for good. And an old friend named Tanner just moved back to town, and he’s suddenly gotten very, very, cute. Can Joey handle all the challenges coming her way, and make her gold medal summer happen at last? Drawing on her real-life experience as a competitive gymnast, acclaimed novelist Donna Freitas delivers both a terrific gymnastics story and a classic novel about stretching some limits, bending the rules, and finding your balance.

About the author

Donna Freitas began her career as a competitive gymnast at the age of eight. She regularly medaled on beam and floor at the state level, and she competed at the Annual Regional Championships with her team until an injury led to her retirement at age fifteen. The author of three young adult novels—The Possibility of Sainthood, This Gorgeous Game, and The Survival Kit—and four adult nonfiction books, she lives in Brooklyn.

Jaselyn Blanchard attended New York University’s Steinhardt School in Vocal Performance (Music Theatre). While at NYU, she performed in numerous Steinhardt and NYU productions, including 110 in the Shade, Language of Angels, and On My Way: A Cabaret. She continued her education at Brown University/Trinity Rep Consortium, where she recently completed her Masters in Fine Arts – Acting. While at Brown, she has appeared in numerous Brown/Trinity Rep productions and was featured as Nimue in Trinity Repertory Company’s production of Camelot.