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CM . . .
. Volume X Number 12. . . . February 13, 2004
excerpt:
This beautifully photographed and designed large format book is a tribute to today's figure skating stars. It is an excellent guide to the latest and most popular skaters as well as newer up and coming skaters. The book is divided into five sections. First, there is an introduction which gives a general synopsis of today's skating scene, then sections on the men, the women, the pairs, and the ice dance couples. The sections on the athletes are filled with clear dramatic full colour photographs taken by Gérard Châtaigneau who is a former figure skater himself. He has captured all of the athleticism and artistry of the current skating scene at a variety of recent competitions.
Figure skating fans will enjoy browsing and reading this attractive and interesting guide while young skaters will find many of the stories inspiring. Highly Recommended. Lorraine Douglas is an artist and writer living in Winnipeg. A board member of the Canadian Children's Book Centre, Lorraine also loves watching figure skating on television.
To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca. Copyright � the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.
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In each section. the biggest stars, like Evgeny Plushenko, Sasha Cohen, Shen and Zhao, and Bourne and Kraatz, are given several pages for their biographies. Their write ups include personal quotes as well as describing how they started skating and overcame challenges to achieve their dreams. Steve Milton, a sports writer, has a highly readable and energetic style. Sidebars provide vital information like birth dates, coaches, choreographers, etc., and some special tidbits of information are bulleted. There is a complete listing of the stars' standings in recent competitions. There are over 25 individual skaters featured as well as ten pairs teams and 13 ice dance couples. The shorter biographies are often one page in length accompanied with a striking photograph. These artists include the Canadian Jeff Buttle who was runner-up to Plushenko at Skate Canada 2003, a number of talented Chinese skaters like Chengjiang Li, and dancers Grushina and Goncharov.