• Age: 9 to 13
• Grade: 4 to 8
• Reading age: 7 to 10

Abby has been having a hard time since her family moved from Edmonton to Calgary--she misses her best friend, and at school she feels terribly awkward, a klutz.

So she's outraged when her mother signs her up for gymnastics at a local club; outraged, that is, until Hilary befriends her. Hilary is outgoing, confident, and a top-ranked gymnast: in short, everything Abby wants to be. Soon, however, she discovers that Hilary has a serious problem: an eating disorder she tries to keep secret from everyone. Abby wants to act, but doesn't know whether she'll be helping Hilary or betraying her.

The Perfect Gymnast is a story about a girl who struggles to do the right thing, even at the risk of losing her best friend.

Michele Martin Bossley was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but grew up in Calgary, Alberta. Her sixth grade teacher encouraged her to write down the stories she enjoyed creating, but it wasn't until high school that Michele really began to consider writing as a career. She graduated from the University of Calgary in 1991, and began working seriously on writing children's books.

Michele is the author of eighteen novels for young people. Ten of her books have been chosen by the Canadian Children's Book Centre for the Our Choice list. Others have been nominated for the Manitoba and Alberta Reader's Choice Award, and she was runner-up for the 1997 Writer's Guild of Alberta R. Ross Annett Children's Literature award.

Many of Michele's books focus on different sports. As a former athlete, she was involved in synchronized swimming in her teens and competitive swimming in university. She has also coached young swimmers, in addition to coaching her twin sons' soccer and hockey teams, and draws on much of that experience for her books.

A frequent speaker at writing conferences and schools, Michele divides her time between writing and parenting her four sons. She lives in Calgary, Alberta.

Michele Martin Bossley's profile page

• Winner, Canadian Children's Book Centre Our Choice Selection

"The Perfect Gymnast will introduce to the young reader the subject of eating disorders and the pressure often felt by athletes to be unrealistically thin in an honest, sensitive manner. The novel's characters are appealing because they are regular, everyday kids attempting to deal with tough problem, and young female readers will find Bossley's novel a welcome addition to the sports stories genre. The Perfect Gymnast is fast-paced, informative, and -- at only seventy-six pages -- attractive even to reluctant readers."

Canadian Materials