From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-Skaters and wanna-bes will get hours of pleasure from studying the gorgeous pictures, reading the stories, and poring over the records of currently prominent people in the rarefied atmosphere of the world of figure skating. Readers meet the top competitors from around the world in all four divisions: ice dancing, pairs, and men's and women's singles; the inclusion of the up-and-comers will give the book a longer shelf life. Each skater or pair is given one or two full pages (three for Michelle Kwan, who also graces the cover), which include at least one large photo of the athletes in performance and several paragraphs about their career. Each individual's date of birth, hometown, training site, coach, and choreographer are also supplied. A few American stars are missing, e.g., Sasha Cohen and Jenny Kirk, in favor of some obscure European national champions, but never mind-teens will love this book.Judy McAloon, Potomac Library, Prince William County, VACopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
This overview of international figure-skating champions combines author Milton's brief biographical sketches with photographer Gerard Chataigneau's striking four-color photos. Of limited reference value--the bios read much like press releases--the book will be enjoyed primarily by browsers, although students writing reports will find essential facts about who won what when. It is the photos, though, that will draw skating fans. Shooting ice skaters in action is no easy trick for a photographer because skating is so fluid a sport, but Chataigneau manages to freeze such stars as Nancy Kwan at their most balletic. The ice dancers come off worse than the figure skaters because their dramatic gestures, when frozen on film, often look posed and pompous. Still, Chataigneau is a skilled photographer, and his images are carefully composed to show both physical grace and emotional intensity. A visual treat for those who follow the sport. Leon Wagner
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Lorraine Douglas, Canadian Materials for Librarians 02/2004
Beautifully photographed and designed... an excellent guide to the latest and most popular skaters... Highly recommended.

Book Description
Updated to include the 2003 Worlds competition. Today's most exciting figure skaters are spotlighted in this richly illustrated book. Combining grace, incredible athletic ability and artistic showmanship, figure stating is exhilarating and highly entertaining. Anything can happen on the ice and often does. As the fans of competitive figure skating know, beauty and danger add up to the greatest show on ice. Figure Skating Now covers the men, the women, the pairs teams and the dance teams. This second edition covers the reigning stars such as Timothy Goebel, Sarah Hughes, and Michelle Kwan, and introduces the next generation of competitors: Brian Joubert, Sasha Cohen, the pairs team Oberta and Sokolov and many others. With biographies and statistics, Figure Skating Now is an insider's view of international figure skating at its highest levels.

From the Author
Runners run, boxers throw punches, hockey players shoot the puck, figure skaters express themselves. All sports are great, the challenges they provide are an elevation for the soul of man, however, while every human endeavor can be turned into an art form, figure skating stands out as a sport that could not exist without artistry. Uniquely, figure skating provides spectators with images of ever renewed creativity. It also provides the thrills of the sporting accomplishment where athletes surpass themselves, reach for the ultimate effort and the ultimate performance… As the photographer of FIGURE SKATING NOW, I understand all of this, and, as I shoot, this is where I find my energy, motivation and inspiration… Moments will pass but the pictures will stay. Those who read FIGURE SKATING NOW will obtain a clear and precise account of who is on the scene and who does what. It is my hope, as well, that through the pictures, they will enjoy the greatness of the sport and relive the moment in a close and personal way, every time the book will be in their hands. Gérard Châtaigneau Photographer, FIGURE SKATING NOW

About the Author
Steve Milton is a sports columnist and author with six figure skating books to his credit. He has covered international skating since 1980, attending five Winter Olympics and more than a dozen world figure skating championships. Gérard Châtaigneau is a photographer and former figure skater. He has been photographing figure skating for 24 years including all the Olympic Games and World Championships since 1988.

Excerpted from Figure Skating Now: Olympic and World Stars by Steve Milton, Grard Chtaigneau, By GC)Rard Chc"taigneau, Gerard Chataigneau. Copyright © 2003. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Introduction Extraordinary people create extraordinary moments. Michelle Kwan is likely the most extraordinary women's figure skating champion of all time. Her championships, both at the 2003 U.S. Nationals and at Worlds the same year, will be remembered as inspired, captivating and perfect in delivery and technique. Meanwhile, Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz, Canada's ice dance champions, have joined a long list of Canadian heroes in claiming the first-ever world title in ice dance -- not just for Canada, but for North America. So now there are more nations competing for top honors in ice dancing. These are times for greatness. They are trying times, too, for figure skating is dealing with new scoring systems, new structures and new challenges. But in the midst of turmoil, great skating still shines. And the list of talented skaters sparkles with new names. In the ladies' event, the United States is showing enormous strength. Jennifer Kirk and Ann-Patrice McDonough are some of the new stars who will gain more international exposure. They will join the breathtakingly talented Sasha Cohen who, with only one year of Grand Prix competitions behind her, has already established herself as a leading force within the new generation. And what about Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hughes? Will she continue to compete and go on to reach new heights? Or is her decision to attend Yale the practical end to a mercurial career? Fumie Suguri, Shizuka Arakawa and Yashie Onda, all exuding a blend of grace and power, have established Japan as a solid contender in ladies' skating. Fumie delights us with her sophisticated and balletic style. Shizuka, the "one gold blade" skating marvel, has a more contemporary approach. And Yashie is gentle, yet all powerful with intense determination. Add some Russian gusto into the mix, and you can be sure that the ladies' figure skating scene will continue to thrill us for some time to come. Ice dancing is, in short, a whole new world. Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz have provided the inspiration, as great teams from the United States and Canada press forward with credible challenges. Europe has always provided superb dancers, but who would have expected Bulgaria to make headlines? Yet that is what the innovative Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviyski have achieved for their country. In pairs, China has emerged as the new powerhouse. It fielded three teams in the 2003 Worlds. Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao skated to a gold medal, and the other teams placed a more than respectable fourth and sixth. Russia is also very strong in this discipline with, notably, Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin. It will be interesting not only to watch the Chinese-Russian contest, but also to see which countries will develop new teams. If inspiration and drive came from example, then the new names in men's figure skating need only to look at the one man who made the quad a necessary weapan -- because he's back! Elvis Stojko has returned to competition, and that says plenty. Yes, the quad is no longer a novelty, it's a necessity and, like the triple Axel before it, has become the dividing line between good skaters and top skaters. It's almost impossible now to win a medal without two quad jumps, one of which will be combined with a triple. With skaters from the United States, Russia, France, Japan and China trying to cram into the final flight, the men's event has become truly international. So with all these extraordinary developments, how does one push the envelope these days? I'm not even going to take a guess. What lies ahead is unpredictable. Just watch. And be amazed. Gérard Châtaigneau

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Updated to include the 2003 Worlds competition.

Today's most exciting figure skaters are spotlighted in this richly illustrated book. Combining grace, incredible athletic ability and artistic showmanship, figure stating is exhilarating and highly entertaining. Anything can happen on the ice and often does. As the fans of competitive figure skating know, beauty and danger add up to the greatest show on ice.

Figure Skating Now covers the men, the women, the pairs teams and the dance teams. This second edition covers the reigning stars such as Timothy Goebel, Sarah Hughes, and Michelle Kwan, and introduces the next generation of competitors: Brian Joubert, Sasha Cohen, the pairs team Oberta and Sokolov and many others. With biographies and statistics, Figure Skating Now is an insider's view of international figure skating at its highest levels.

FROM THE CRITICS

Book Report

Very up-to-date ... the pictures alone will be of great interest.

Children's Literature - Andrea Sears Andrews

Glossy, colorful, and close-up photographs of the most recent figure skating phenoms adorn every page of this book. One cannot help becoming absorbed in the skaters' athleticism, beauty, grace, and costumes as pages are turned and personalities are introduced. It is the photographs that encourage the reader to devote time into the book's lengthy and somewhat technical text. This book details twenty-five men and woman figure skaters, ten pair teams, and thirteen dance teams. Not only are skaters' biographical information given, but also their competition histories with specific failures and successes highlighted. Readers will learn about particular coaching experiences, styles and jumps of skaters. However, should one not be pre-educated in skating, do not get hopes up high that the differences between a quadruple lutz, salchow, and toe loop will be understood. The text is for those who know something about skating and want to have an up-close and personal understanding of the most promising amateurs. Should one decide to forgo the text and only look at the pictures, it is a book for any figure skating enthusiast. 2003, Firefly Books, Ages 8 to 18.

VOYA

Photographer Châtagneau describes the power, intensity, greatness, beauty, and joy of figure skating and credits still photography as an art form able to capture it. He lauds the skaters for their discipline and dedication, "spending far more time training than the average person spends working a regular job." With those comments in mind, one might expect a photo essay illustrating the path to skating stardom with photographs showing the strength, elegance, and determination skaters possess on the ice. Instead, his treatment of the subject is more like a scrapbook. Essays and photographs illustrate topics within skating's competitive categories of men, women, pairs, and dance teams unequally. For example, the essay introducing the men's section emphasizes the importance of jumping in competition with no accompanying photographs of skaters in flight. Such inconsistency occurs in other sections as well. Short essays about specific skaters comprise each section with numerous photographs from competitions. Again, the photographs do not pictorially represent the skills mentioned. Evgeny Plushenko, the first man to perform the Biellmann spin in competition, is not pictured performing this move. Considered separately, the photographs and the exposition fairly follow the scope. Although unusually cropped in some cases, the photographs illustrate artistic expression, strength, and dedication by capturing the skaters in time on film. Allowing more space or including fewer pictures would have heightened the drama. The essays are informative but unstructured. This book will be enjoyed by fans, but it will not be useful to report writers. Photos. VOYA CODES: 2Q 2P S A/YA (Better editing orwork by the author might have warranted a 3Q; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult and Young Adult). 2001, Firefly, 128p, $19.95. Ages 15 to Adult. Reviewer: Jessica Mize SOURCE: VOYA, February 2002 (Vol. 24, No.6)

School Library Journal