Finding Our Balance (2016) (Volume 1)

When 15-year-old newcomer Amalia Blanchard makes a splash with her beam routine in front of the entire U.S. national team, veterans like Ruby Spencer—whose 2012 Olympic dreams were dashed due to an injury just a month before the Games—and Emerson Bedford—a two-time world champion set to run the show in Rio—start to take notice. With preliminary competitions to get through before the team trials, all three have something to prove, as Emerson struggles to maintain her queen bee status, Ruby tries to show everyone she is still a contender, and Amalia hopes she has what it takes to stand out in a talented field. Finding Our Balance follows these extraordinary teenage girls through heartbreak, triumph, and everything in between as their lifetime of training comes down to a single summer that will change their lives forever.

Lauren Hopkins began writing about gymnastics for The Couch Gymnast in July 2010, and spent four years there as the U.S. expert while also contributing to International Gymnast magazine, GymCastic, and as a guest on several blogs. In 2014, she created her own website, The Gymternet, now one of the most popular gymnastics sites providing exclusive coverage for the most enthusiastic gym nerds. A New England native, Lauren is a 2014 graduate of Columbia University. She currently lives in New York City and she loves the Red Sox unconditionally.