Shannon Miller has truly lived the American Dream-its drama and disappointment, its hope and joy. Written by her mother, this profusely illustrated story of Shannon’s journey to Olympic fame is also the portrait of a family working together to help a child achieve a difficult, challenging goal.The ultimate thrill for an athlete is to stand on a podium and, with the world as witness, to accept an Olympic medal. In Shannon Miller: My Child, My Hero, Claudia Miller helps us understand the dedication and hard work preceding that moment of Olympic glory. Claudia presents intimate details of Shannon’s life, her triumphs and her crushing defeats. She also shares the ways she and her husband, Ron, handled both the tears and the happiness, as well as how they dealt with Shannon’s siblings, Tessa and Troy, and her teachers and coaches.

We journey with the Miller family through Shannon’s training and achievements, struggles and injuries, to her dramatic comeback. In the 1992 Olympics, she won five medals. An in 1996, despite media declarations that she was no longer competitive, Shannon performed brilliantly-leading the women’s gymnastics team to first place and winning a gold medal for her performance on the balance beam.