Character Analysis: The Flip Side

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“We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.” This quote is by Jesse Owens. It very precisely associates with the book “The Flip Side” by Shawn Johnson, because of the way a young girl who desires to be an Olympic gymnast dedicates herself and makes unbending sacrifices to succeed. If you ever imagined working hard for something, Charlotte(Charlie) Ryland multiplied your efforts by a million. She had a mental picture of what she wanted to accomplish and because of the determination she had, she followed it through during the book, and did everything she could even when she had to conquer some weighty hurdles. This amazing and inspiring story is written by Shawn Johnson, an Olympic gold medalist and is titled, “The Flip Side.” Charlotte seems like the average teenage girl at school. She gets decent grades, wears glasses to shield her face, and doesn’t enjoy government class. However, secretly, “Charlie”, is an elite gymnast. She can do amazing things with her body, wears her hair off her face with lots of sparkly makeup, and absorbs the spotlight. Yet somehow, these two very different worlds are combined into one insane life. The meaning behind the book, “The Flip Side”, by Shawn Johnson depicts how a young girl aiming to be an Olympic gymnast makes many sacrifices for her dream and lives a …show more content…

The theme of this story is sacrifice in the way that Charlotte puts everything aside in an attempt to become an elite gymnast as displayed in various scenes of the book. This story highlights the reality behind and portrays how sacrifice and this novel connect with the quote by Jesse Owens, “We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and