THE RASCALS FROM HASKELL'S GYM

When Bonham draws his lines he makes them heavy and indelible--and never more so than in the contest between gymnast heroine Sissy Benedict and her conniving rival Juno Heinrich. Juno has had her back up since Sissy left Mrs. Heinrich's club, Haskell's Rascals, to join coach Bonnie Walker's Butterflies--and took eighteen other dissatisfied girls with her. On top of that, Sissy's widowed father, who's devoted to wood and old buildings (also Ms. Walker?), is busy restoring the antique Mark Twain Hotel that villainous leveler Mr. Heinrich has targeted for his wrecking ball. Between practicing her routines and working for that elusive quality called style in her performance, Sissy worries with her father about whether they can raise the money to buy and save the hotel. It looks impossible when three thousand dollar bills disappear from Dad's dresser, and the gloom is compounded when the Butterflies lose a ""grudge match"" with the Rascals. But Bonham is only warming up for Sissy's triumph on both fronts, and sure enough she finds the money on the very night that she leads her club to victory in a more important four-team meet. (This despite an injured ankle and the cheating Rascals' dirty tricks--Bonham piles it on.) This was clearly cut to order for the new gymnastics audience--though proficiently, even generously so, as such sports stories go.