Girls Only ~Volume one~ by: Beverly Lewis

Dreams on Ice:

When Livvy Hudson's family decides to move, Livvy is sure her dreams of entering the Olympics and becoming a figure skating star have vanished. She has to leave her awesome ice skating coach and all her friends, just to move across the country to some small town that doesn't even have a good ice rink! And when a jealous rival at school begins calling and threatening Livvy, could it get any worse?
Livvy continues to figure skate though, even with no one to support her. Then she meets Jenna, a girl with similar Olympic dreams. They decide to form a club, the Girls Only club. Things slowly start improving. Livvy practices every day, and soon meets an old man who is often sitting on the side of the rink watching the skaters. She is curious about why he is there, and soon finds out something very special about him that could change everything!

Only the Best:

Jenna Song, an only child striving for her Olympic dream of being a gymnast, is upset to find out that her parents have decided to adopt a little boy. Why can't they just be happy with her? Jenna begins to get mad at everyone around her, even her best friend Livvy! Boys at school are making fun of Jenna because she is Korean, and Jenna needs someone to talk to, but Livvy refuses to talk with Jenna after an argument they had on the phone. Then comes a hard decision: Jenna has a gymnastics meet at the Olympics Training Center on the same day that she has to go with her parents to meet her new little brother Jonathon.

A Perfect Match:

Jenna and Livvy decide to let Heather Bock, a girl with ice-dancing Olympic dreams, join the Girls Only club. But Heather slowly begins to wonder if maybe she should skate solo instead of skating doubles with her brother, Kevin. Unfortunately, when Heather tells her family about her plans, they don't seem to like the idea as much as she did. Her family won't stop her though. If she wants to skate solo, that's her choice. Heather's brother goes in search of a new partner to ice-dance with and finds one easily. Shortly after he finds his partner, Heather slowly begins to wonder if maybe her decision had been in haste. Perhaps she should continue skating doubles with her brother. Was skating solo what she really wanted, or was she just being selfish?

Reach for the Stars:

Manda Garcia is given permission to join the Girls Only club. Manda is a twelve year-old downhill skier who is shooting for the Olympics. But when her mom, also an excellent skier, has an accident on the hills, Manda has to put her dream of winning the Dressel Hills Downhill Classic away and focus on her mom. She takes over her mom's ski class and teaches all the beginners herself. "Tarin the Terrible," an intelligent boy who seemed to know everything and acted like he was ten years older than he was, was included in the class. Manda took it on herself to tame him. She even speaks to his father and becomes Tarin's babysitter. But can she really tame "Tarin the Terrible?" A boy known to read dictionaries for entertainment?

My thoughts:

While all these books are excellent, I enjoyed Dreams On Ice the most. Livvy and Jenna are my favourite characters for sure. Livvy, because I like figure skating and Jenna, because she is so nice and always know the right thing to say. I like all of the four girls a lot, but I'd say my least favourite is Manda. Not because she isn't nice or anything like that, but I just found her book, Reach for the Stars, to not be quite as interesting as all the others. I enjoy the end and middle, but the beginning didn't draw me in like on all the other stories.
All the girls are striving for their best in their sports, and maybe to one day be in the Olympics. The Girls Only club encourages each other and gives each other the moral support they need. I would recommend this book for probably ages 8 to 15.