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On Top of Glass

My Stories as a Queer Girl in Figure Skating

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
An insightful memoir from a figure skating champion about her life as a bisexual professional athlete, perfect for readers of Fierce by Aly Raisman and Forward by Abby Wambach.
Karina Manta has had a busy few years: Not only did she capture the hearts of many with her fan-favorite performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, she also became the first female figure skater on Team USA to come out as queer. Her Modern Love essay "I Can't Hate My Body if I Love Hers" was published in the New York Times, and then she joined the circus—Cirque du Soleil's on-ice show, AXEL.
Karina's memoir covers these experiences and much more. Attending a high school with 4,000 students, you'd expect to know more than two openly gay students, but Karina didn't meet an out-lesbian until she was nearly seventeen—let alone any other kind of queer woman. But this isn't just a story about her queerness. It's also a story about her struggle with body image in a sport that prizes delicate femininity. It's a story about panic attacks, and first crushes, and all the crushes that followed, and it's a story about growing up, feeling different than everybody around her and then realizing that everyone else felt different too.
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    • AudioFile Magazine
      Ice dancer Karina Manta's sensitive performance of her memoir about life on and off the ice centers this thoughtful production. Raised in Arizona, Manta discovered an early passion for skating. The author's conversational style invites listeners to share in the joys and challenges of her experiences, including coming out and college life. As she examines the high personal costs connected with the stringent expectations of coaches and judges during her career as a competitive ice dancer, her voice grows quiet. Drawing from her own struggles with body image and mental health, Manta offers encouragement and empathetic support for anyone experiencing similar issues. Humorous asides appear throughout, alerting listeners to "spoiler alerts" for anecdotes. This audiobook offers an important voice for young athletes. J.R.T. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:880
  • Text Difficulty:4-5

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