Rush for the Gold
Novel Written by: John Feinstein

Susan Carol Anderson has now gained about 15 pounds of pure muscle, and now can break her previous record from her 200 fly. At the age of only 15, she is going to compete for a spot on the US Olympic swimming team. After reporting with her co-writer Stevie Thomas (best friend and now boyfriend), it is now her turn to become part of the news story. Agents want to sign her right and left. When there is a lot at stake here, what would someone do to get the money?
In this unique novel, Rush for the Gold, the author John Feinstein not only takes you through the astonishing experience of the Olympic Games, he takes you through with a teenager’s point of view. From Stevie Thomas reporting about the games, and from Susan Carol actually being an Olympian. Throughout this book I was into it, and I could barely put it down. As I read further and further into the book, it just kept me into it every step of the way.
While there is some big hype about being an Olympian and all of that, there is also kind of a backstory to it. In John Feinstein’s previous novel, The Last Shot, Stevie and Susan Carol solve an important mystery that saved the NCAA Championship. Now they are in the Olympic Games and a mystery has been created right before their eyes! So what are they going to do?
In addition to the positive aspects of this book, there are also some things that I didn’t really like. Although I love sports and mysteries, I enjoy a more realistic read. This novel had some aspects to it that just were impossible. Such as the amount of security was high, but they were not good and that doesn’t happen in the real Olympic Games. I do think the author did a good job, but more realistic things would have been better.
Another aspect that was enjoying to me was the mystery itself. I thought it was very modern and pertained to the world today. The mystery revolved around agents and money, and that is a huge issue for today’s athletes. So that was very well written. Finally I really enjoyed the description about the games and all of the ceremonies. It made me feel as if I was at the games taking it all in.

So overall I really enjoyed this book. I would recommend it to kids ages from 12-14. I really enjoyed all the aspects and I truly can’t wait to read another one of John Feinstein’s book! I think the theme of Rush for the Gold is to enjoy the moments and the people you're with; not the money any all the things you get. That really stuck with me because I too play sports and I truly don’t care about how much publicity my team gets or what people really think of me, but that I have fun and that I am with the people that I love.