Fast Enough: Bessie Stringfield’s First Ride is an imagined account of a young Bessie Stringfield who wants more: she wants to ride, and she wants to ride fast. Yet, she needs the validation and courage to do so. Young Bessie is a little girl who is taunted and left behind and verbally devalued again and again, yet she loves her bike and the power she has riding it. It’s a bright and colorful affair, and the dream sequences of our heroine riding across bodies of water and across outer space are fun and eye candy. They instantly spur up the imagination that girls, girls that look like Bessie Stringfield with brown skin and afro puffs, can do anything–not just the impossible. This makes for a great vehicle for representing not just the future queen of motorcycles from Florida for younger readers but representing more children of color and specifically little Black girls in books for a younger age groups.

As short as the book is, I would have loved to have seen more female characters present within the book other than the off-screen words of Bessie’s mother and the ruffled little old ladies walking their dogs that the children speed past on their bicycles. The author, Joel Christian Gill (Strange Fruit), also gave Bessie the graphic novel treatment a few years ago by way of Bessie Stringfield: Tales of the Talented Tenth, no. 2 which is a great addition for parents, guardians, and educators to have to elaborate on this incredible and fearless woman’s life.

I do appreciate that the author takes time to add on the final page about new information about Bessie’s life that paints a different picture and that “this type of contradicting info often follows people who are larger than life…” and encouraging readers to look her up themselves, yet he still cements Bessie Stringfield as an amazing woman who was accomplished as she was a first. I loved the addition of adding in that she used the Negro Motorist Green Book to stay safe when riding across America as it can open up dialogue about how Black folks navigated the United States in an era not too long ago for the little ones at home.

What an excellent graphic novel!
The story of Bessie Stringfield is sure to motivate our young black girls.

Fast Enough: Bessie Stringfield's First Ride by Joel Christian Gill is a great story for all ages. I liked every minute reading it and design is great. And Bessie's determination 'to show them all' gives strength and endurance to children, young, and adults of all ages equally.

Wonderfully illustrated. The story itself started off nice, the end was a bit sugary meh, but was redeemed by the afterword.
All in all, faily educational and inspiring for small children.

Have you ever been told that you were not enough?

While all of us have experienced that to some extent, it’s the lot of some to experience it more.

Bessie’s Springfield’s story is an inspiring tale of figuring out what you’re capable of in the face of a society that tells you you’re not.

Plus, this is a great children’s book, with some fantastic art. I’ve been following Joel Christian Gill for a while now, and he’s a great writer and amazing artist. I’m glad he’s telling us the stories no one else will.

<i>Thanks to NetGalley, Diamond Book Distributors, and Lion Forge for a copy in return for an honest review.</i>

Bessie Stringfield happens to be one of my favorite people in history.. I just find her so fascinating. As a result, I was obviously super excited to see this kid’s book about her on her bike!

For me, this book had some cute moments of art (the inside cover is fantastic, I would want it as wrapping paper and wallpaper!!). The frames of her cruising on her bike so fast that she is flying by planets was a beautiful page as well. The writing, however, was really lacking for me. The story wasn’t much of a story (the organization did not work for me) and it seemed like it couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a short fictional story or actually provide information about her life. This is hard for me to understand since she had such an interesting life— she had a rocky and interesting upbringing, traveled all over, met so many people, performed, had many marriages... I am not sure how that could have been watered down into just riding a bike past a few boys. I wished they had provided information about her life (they did write about her in the glossary area, but even that writing was lacking to me, but better than nothing!).

I am hoping for more stories about Bessie Stringfield soon— I want her in my classroom!! I have the talented 10th graphic novel book about her , too, but that one requires some explanation to younger students about content and artistic choices, but is at least much more informative. 2.5 for this one, which feels a little tough for me considering I love the main character, but it just didn’t bring much to the table.

Thanks to the publisher and author for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This imagined incident from the life of motorcyclist Bessie Stringfield plays on her love of speeding along on two wheels and imitates the sort of stories she often told about her own life. The additional information at the end of the story tells of her travels as an adult on her motorcycle, including her career as the only female civilian motorcycle courier for the U.S. military. It also mentions The Negro Motorist Green Book, which was used by "black people traveling in America" to find hotels and other services that were safe for them while they were on the road.

I especially like that the author discusses the discrepancies in Bessie's accounts of her early life and those that are supported by evidence. As he says, "This kind of contradicting information often follows people whose adventures are larger than life."

This is a good book to use for units for Women's History Month, Black History Month, or with guidance lessons on self-esteem and perseverance. It is also a good picture book to put into the hands of young readers who enjoy stories about transportation and people who feel "the need for speed."

Edgy, High Energy Charm

Bessie Stringfield was a strong, independent, resourceful Black Woman who broke barriers with her pioneering achievements and adventures, and this book gives her her due. Right out of the gate we find young Bessie unhappy about not being able to ride bicycles with the boys, and we watch as her determination to be "good enough" develops. Because Bessie is Fast! and won't be denied.

Lots of good things going on here. We start with Bessie as a youngster and see her fire and determination. The art is just right. It's in a minimalist, art naif style, but with strong colors, energy, and crispness. Bessie is the center of every panel and page, and the character is certainly expressive, but the drawing mostly serves to identify Bessie as a whirlwind of energy and grit. Your eye is on her. (And on her big, big natural hair, which seems like a running bit of a joke that I found endearing.) The text has a strong narrative drive and uses repetition effectively.

The book ends with a biography, brief description of Bessie's motorcycling career and accomplishments in the early twentieth century, and a bit of an historical appreciation. This part is both interesting to an older reader and adds to one's understanding of the picture book. Bessie Stringfield took a fantabulous view of her own life and wasn't shy about fabricating details, which the author acknowledges and sort of relishes. That was all fine by me, because once you bill yourself as the "Negro Motorcycle Queen" you're allowed to be bigger than just one or two lives.

Bottom line - this was attractive as a picture book, engaging as a biography, and subtly but powerfully inspirational in a matter-of-fact and not at all preachy way. As Bessie once said about herself, "Man, I was something." What an excellent find.

(Please note that I had a chance to read a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

I saw a few post about FAST ENOUGH: BESSIE STRINGFIELD'S FIRST RIDE on social media so when I saw it was available on NetGalley to read/review I was pretty excited. I stopped what I was doing and read it before my next class arrived. (I'm an Elementary school librarian.) One of the many types of books I like to offer my students are ones that tell us about people in history that are not as well known, but have made a difference. After reading FAST ENOUGH I wanted to do two things at the same time, plug in my computer to my white board so I could read it to my next class AND search my vendor's website for another book on Bessie Stringfield. The story was just enough of a tease to make me crave more of her story and learn about her adventures. The illustrations are rich and engaging and I appreciate the additional information at the end of the the story. I highly recommend FAST ENOUGH and would love to see it on CYRM list for the next round of nominees.

Fast Enough is super cute and quite empowering. Seeing a fictionalized version of a young woman who would grow up to tackle something new and unthinkable for women at her time was great. The art is adorable without being cutesy, and the message is direct without being preachy or twee. I recommended this to our Children's Dept.

I had high hopes for this book after reading Joel Christian Gill's Tales of the Talented Tenth treatment of Bessie Stringfield. However, neither the art nor the story matched up to its promise. The story seems watered down for children to the point of triteness, the characters don't all seem to be drawn in the same style, and the font doesn't match the old fashioned look of the drawings. I love that the author is bringing to light the stories of little-known African Americans, but I am disappointed that Fast Enough wasn't as good as I anticipated.

Into motorcycles? Then Bessie Stringfield is your gal! Like my husband, she was born to wheels. She first fell in love with bicycles and then motorcycles. However, this was at a time when girls, let alone black girls, didn't do things like ride around the country on motorcycles. Bessie truly blazed her own path that many others followed.

On the surface, this is a cool story about a little girl finding her power. When Bessie is teased by the neighborhood boys, who won't ride their bikes with her, and put her down, she finds an innor talent, and inner power that burst out and beats the pants off those teasing boys.

Bessie later, goes on to be a talented motorcycle rider, all around the south in the 1930s, which is amazing in itself, but doubly amazing for a black woman.

This story is cute, because apparently it is based on the stories that she told about herself.

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Screen-Shot-2018-12-06-at-11.22.18-
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Lovely illustrations, and cute story. I also like how the story is fact checked, and the author says that even if it didn't happen quite the way she said, she was still talented.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

This is a cute picture book about a girl who wants to ride her bike just as fast as the boys. At the end of the book, there is a small print historical section that tells a brief story of Bessie Stringfield's life. Up until that point, I hadn't known that she was a historical figure. The real Bessie was a motorcyclist and she traveled all over the US up until her death at the age 82 in 1993. She didn't let her gender, race, or age get in the way of doing something she loved- a great message for anyone to hear.

Earlier this year, I read Joel Christian Gill's Bessie Stringfield: Tales of the Talented Tenth, no. 2. It was my first time reading anything about Bessie Stringfield, and I was fascinated. When I found out Gill was authoring a picture book about Stringfield's life, I knew I was going to have to read it. I definitely find myself charmed by Fast Enough as well.

Stringfield led a fascinating life, and this picture book really does it justice for younger readers. I liked the way Gill presented the story in a way that children could relate to, with Stringfield's desire to be "good enough" as a major factor in the tale. Starting the story off by showing Stringfield as a vibrant young girl with a need for speed on her bicycle really worked here, especially as the story built around the character's reality and her dreams. Ending the story with a description of the life of the real woman was a nice touch, and will satisfy curious kids and adults alike.

I think the illustrations were especially lovely, with Gill's art style really bringing the characters to life, especially bringing Bessie Stringfield herself to life. Getting to see a young black girl with natural hair was especially great to see.

I definitely recommend Fast Enough: Bessie Stringfield's First Ride. This vibrant and vital piece of history is brought to life with lovely messages, extra historical information, a sweet and relatable story, and top notch illustrations. Kids and adults will both find something to like about this one.

Goodreads Rating: 4 stars.

Bessie is continually told she’s “not enough” to ride a bike with the boys. She really wants to, but she’s not sure how to overcome the stereotype the boys have placed on her. After some dreaming, she finds the courage and imagination needed to overcome the stereotype, prove herself to the boys, and become acknowledged for her talents.

A wonderful introduction to Bessie Stringfield, a forgotten pioneer in the world of motorcycling and female bad@$$ery in general. While the story proper focuses on a fictional childhood reimaging of the first time she realized her potential and her dreams as a bike rider, there’s an illustrated mini-biography at the end of the book that highlights Bessie’s accomplishments when she grew up.

The illustrations are vibrant and vintagey–especially the endpapers, which I loved!

This is not the first junior read I've come across about Bessie Stringfield, and how she became a notoriously pioneering motorcyclist at a time of Jim Crow laws, the Green Book and still a fuddy-duddy, fusty attitude about what females can and should do. It is, though, the first to put lie to the myth she seemed to self-generate about her upbringing. But that's all in the denser, biographical script that closes out this book – before then we get a very junior version of the tale, with Bessie worrying about being excluded from the neighbourhood boys' bike rides, and them taunting her in cartoonish speech bubbles. The artwork shines really quite well, with Bessie speeding through several situations and poses on each image, and even unusual dreamscapes are done excellently. I enjoyed it so much I could forgive it the 'hey, this is relevant as chances are you've felt the same as Bessie' opening. For one thing, the pushbikes don't look of the right vintage, and appear almost modern, so I doubt they needed to push the empathy levels up so high. But still, a strong four stars.