The ultimate thrill for an athlete is to stand on a podium and, with the world as witness, to accept an Olympic medal. In Shannon Miller: My Child, My Hero, Claudia Miller helps us understand the dedication and hard work preceding that moment of Olympic glory. Claudia presents intimate details of Shannon's life, her triumphs and her crushing defeats. She also shares the ways she and her husband, Ron, handled both the tears and the happiness, as well as how they dealt with Shannon's siblings, Tessa and Troy, and her teachers and coaches.

We journey with the Miller family through Shannon's training and achievements, struggles and injuries, to her dramatic comeback. In the 1992 Olympics, she won five medals. And in 1996, despite media declarations that she was no longer competitive, Shannon performed brilliantly -- leading the women's gymnastics team to first place and winning a gold medal for her performance on the balance beam.

We also come to understand the strength of faith and the sense of pride, dedication, and commitment that move Shannon to share her success through charitable work and community service, and we learn more about how to love and nurture the "heroes" within our own children.