ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF THE SUMMER BY POPSUGAR FROLIC PARADE TRAVEL & LEISURE
SHE KNOWS and SHE READS! NAMED A REAL SIMPLE BEST BOOK OF 2020 (SO FAR). Fast Girls is a
compelling thrilling look at what it takes to be a female Olympian in pre-war America...Brava
to Elise Hooper for bringing these inspiring heroines to the wide audience they so richly
deserve.-Tara Conklin New York Times bestselling author of The Last Romantics and The House
Girl Acclaimed author Elise Hooper explores the gripping real life history of female athletes
members of the first integrated women's Olympic team and their journeys to the 1936 summer
games in Berlin Nazi Germany. Perfect for readers who love untold stories of amazing women
such as The Only Woman in the Room Hidden Figures and The Lost Girls of Paris. In the 1928
Olympics Chicago's Betty Robinson competes as a member of the first-ever women's delegation in
track and field. Destined for further glory she returns home feted as America's Golden Girl
until a nearly-fatal airplane crash threatens to end everything. Outside of Boston Louise
Stokes one of the few black girls in her town sees competing as an opportunity to overcome
the limitations placed on her. Eager to prove that she has what it takes to be a champion she
risks everything to join the Olympic team. From Missouri Helen Stephens awkward tomboyish
and poor is considered an outcast by her schoolmates but she dreams of escaping the hardships
of her farm life through athletic success. Her aspirations appear impossible until a chance
encounter changes her life. These three athletes will join with others to defy society's
expectations of what women can achieve. As tensions bring the United States and Europe closer
and closer to the brink of war Betty Louise and Helen must fight for the chance to compete
as the fastest women in the world amidst the pomp and pageantry of the Nazi-sponsored 1936
Olympics in Berlin.
