Twist, Tumble, Triumph: The Story of Champion Gymnast Ágnes Keleti

The story of Hungarian Jewish Olympian Ágnes Keleti (b. 1921) inspires in Bodin Cohen and Olitzky’s chronicle of how the gymnast persisted throughout WWII. The story opens with Keleti, the Hungarian national champion, being told that a new law blocks Jewish athletes from training at the national team’s gym. Undeterred, the protagonist and a teammate begin covertly practicing at a school: “doing tumbles and flips, she could forget about prejudice and the war.” When Nazi forces arrive in Budapest, Keleti flees, doing housework for a Nazi-supporting family, and a field suffices as practice space. Postwar, an injury keeps Keleti from her Olympic dreams until finally, she wins a gold medal at the 1952 Helsinki games. With somber coloring and smooth lines, Peluso’s painterly renderings capture the difficulty of the period with pathos, adding emotional heft to this remarkable life story. An author’s note and photos conclude. Ages 5–9. (Feb.)