How It All Goes Down
In Which Gabby Douglas Admits She Has No Idea How She Did It
Religion plays a huge role in gold medal-winning gymnast Gabrielle Douglas's life, so she begins every chapter of her autobiography with a Bible verse, and ends each one with a reference to God's plans for her.
But even if you're a total atheist, you'll still get behind Douglas…because it's impossible not to. She's just too insanely likable. Gabrielle Douglas is a genuinely sweet, sincere woman, and this book was obviously written with the goal of inspiring younger readers and aspiring gymnasts.
So Douglas starts her story with how she came into the world and chronicles her family's journey from living out of their Dodge Van for her first tenuous year of life, to the family's separation across Virginia towns, surviving an absent father, and undergoing the years of rigorous (and expensive) training that is necessary for an elite gymnast to compete with the rest of the world's athletes.
From qualifying for special programs that helped fund her training, to her mother having to work multiple jobs in order to keep a roof over their heads, to helping the American team win Gold in the 2012 London games, it's obvious that Gabrielle Douglas has a good reason to put her faith in God—because it seems like someone's been looking out for her.