Reaching New Heights: The Kelly Clark Story (ZonderKidz Biography) - Softcover

Natalie Davis Miller has been a professional writer for more that seventeen years, writing a variety of stories for print and web, including articles on many sports figures such as football legend and movie icon Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger and Olympians Cullen Jones and Kelly Clark in the Zonderkidz biographies, Speed to Glory, The Cullen Jones Story and Reaching New Heights, The Kelly Clark Story. Miller connects with her subjects and tells their stories in an informative and inspiring way, with a personal goal to glorify God using her writing talents.

 

Olympic medalist Clark was on top of her sport of snowboarding, but she knew something was missing in her life. At the bottom of a run in 2004, she met another young female snowboarder who gave her insight into God and what being a Christian meant. Coming from a nonfaith background, Clark didn’t know the questions to ask, but she was eager to listen and learn. Her newfound faith in Jesus has given her the drive to push through rigorous practices, always testing her own limits and striving to become better. At times the book reads like a litany of accomplishments and wins, and the short paragraphs can make for stilted reading. Still, the book is written in an appealing conversational style peppered with snowboarding jargon and copious direct quotes from Clark. Illustrations with captions are strategically placed throughout. Though the author lists sources, no detailed chapter notes are given for direct quotes. Grades 5-8. --J. B. Petty