Interesting story of the women who were part of the first women’s track and field team at the Olympics. Told from several different perspectives, the book details the discrimination that women faced in the workplace and as athletes. As one of the women was black, there is also the racism that she faced as well. You see the struggles that each faced in order to be taken seriously as the flight to do something that they loved and were good at.

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Fast Girls by Elise Hooper
This is story is about Betty Robinson, Helen Stephen’s, and Louise Stokes. Three women who are all runners from different backgrounds set to compete in the Olympics from 1928 to 1936. In a time, when are running, was thought to be detrimental to women these three beat out all the odds to compete.
Betty wins over the press in 1928 and a gold medal, but has a horrible setback before the 1932 games when she survived a plane crash. Told she may never walk again, she fights back and beat the odds and makes it to Germany in 1936.
Luis Stokes is a young black woman from Massachusetts whose talent was discovered by the high school track coach. She works hard to qualify for LA in 1932. She face is horrible treatment discrimination and then the end is not allowed to compete. She continues to fight hard and qualifies for ‘36 in Germany.
Helen Stephens from rural Missouri is also discovered by a high school track coach and makes the 1936 team.
Each one of these women stories is inspiring. Fighting sexism, and racism, along with the fight to beat their competitors , is truly admirable!
Thanks to William Marrow and NetGalley for this ARC.

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

Okay, completely honest admission: I went into this book with a lot of hope for its premise. I knew some of what I might run into (blatant racism) and that it might excite and frustrate me. What I wasn't expecting was how the point of view was handled. Let's have some real talk for two seconds: I'm a white middle class woman. As a white middle class woman, no matter how much research I ever do, I would never try to write from the perspective of someone who is of a different race or ethnicity than me. Why? Because there is no way even with research and interview upon interview that I could ever fully comprehend what it's like to be one of the Black women athletes in this story. The author is white. And it shows. I don't care if you tell me that the author had editors read this and tell them it was fine. It's not. Because even if tonally and experience wise she was hitting the marks--she can't understand. Yes, I realize that the author is also telling the story of the athletes who competed who were white and honestly--- I think she should have stayed in that perspective. Look at Helen or Betty and tell the story from their perspective. Allow them to see what was happening to Louise and allow them to actually be good people in any way they could at the time. Or make this non-fiction. But trying to write Louise's perspective just didn't work and made it difficult to finish. (And honestly, I'm sure there's a Black author out there somewhere who deserves to tell her story properly.)

Thank you for the ARC.

An interesting story about the brave young women who were the first female runners to compete in the Olympics. These women faced obstacles at every turn, sometimes in their own homes, but persevered and changed history, It took me a little while to get into the story, but once I was able to keep the characters straight, their stories came to life. Thank you for your honest portrayal of what these women, especially the colored athletes, faced.

Thank you to Elise Hooper, NetGalley and HarperCollins for the advanced copy. #FastGirls # NeGalley.

Adored this book! Love historical fiction and anything Elise Hooper writes. Inspiring and infuriating story - highly recommend to all.

Great fictional story based on facts about three women Olympians runners on the 1936 team. We follow the lives of Betty, Helen, and Louise, who happens to be not only a women but black women, through the struggles of being a female athlete in a time when it was truly frowned upon and discouraged. The book makes you frustrated seeing what they faced yet happy at the same time knowing how things changed for women and their rights since the 30’s. The stories are personal and compelling. Great read!

Fast Girls was the perfect book for July with the Olympics going on. This book had a little bit of everything, family, struggles, love, and emotions. There were many pieces of information I did not know regarding these athletes. It was heartbreaking to see the struggles these women went through when all they wanted to do was something that made them happy.

Excellent read! Very enjoyable historical fiction. You are really drawn into each characters story. You can feel their strength, fear, anxiety and triumph. Their stories were emphasized with difficult battles that were hard fought. Toward the end I felt that the stories became a bit jumbled and I had a hard time keeping details straight but I really loved the story overall. Highly recommend for those both who enjoy historical fiction and those who don’t typically gravitate toward them.

I’ve read several books recently that dealt with how women were not treated as equal to men. This book was another great example. Set during the early 20th century and focused on women who competed in the Olympics from 1928-1936, these women are to be admired. Betty, Helen, and Louise were focused on overcoming obstacles and ultimately achieving success.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow Paperbacks for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

I really enjoyed this historical fiction and I definitely learned some from it. I love the olympics and this was a great one to read.

The story follows 3 trailblazing women--Betty Robinson, Louise Stokes, and Helen Stephens--in the sport of athletics, known now as track and field. It shows the hardship, discrimination, and trials that these women faced in order to open up track and field for women to compete, not just at the Olympics, but in every day life.
I learned a lot from reading this book. I did not know who these women were nor did I know that 1928 was the first time women were allowed to compete in the Olympics. My main complaint is that just as the story was picking up, it abruptly changed and skipped ahead, which led to the overall story feeling disjointed. The other thing is that the book is about the Berlin Olympics, and I felt it occupied so little of the book.
Hooper took an ambitious task to write this historical fiction book about these three women, but I felt like the topic could have been better executed as a non-fiction piece. Also, I wanted to know more about who these other women were--Babe Didrikson, Tidye Pickett, Stella Walsh, etc. Their stories are just as compelling and trailblazing as the other three women

This book was not for me. I usually love historical fiction, but I think this story would be better served by telling the real story of the actual women who competed in the 1936 Olympics. DNF.

I ADORED this book. I had no idea what all the women went through just to be able to compete, and then to have it all snatched out from under them again and again is just crazy. The adversity that they each overcame was just incredible. Especially Betty. I am really fascinated by these women and they each could have had a book written about them.

Loved Fast Girls! I hope there will be a younger reader version of this book, because I think it is so important for young women to read about these three runners, the adversity they faced, the battles they conquered, and to be inspired by these women who did not give up. The writing about Berlin and the danger and fear so prevalent among Olympians was fascinating, as was the honest appraisal of how hard it was to be a woman and a runner, especially when your own family was not behind you. Fast Girls is a valuable book. Well worth the read!

I really enjoyed this book. I knew nothing about these amazing women who paved the way for some many female athletes behind them I enjoyed learning about the history and the endurance these women had, to preserve when so many obstacles were put in front of them.

I have always loved watching the Olympics, but I typically watch swimming or gymnastics. I can't imagine being a pioneer in a sport, let alone running. Even when I was growing up in the 80s & early 90s, running was still discouraged for most girls and women at that time.
This was well written and there was a lot packed into this book between all of the girl's/women's stories. I liked how it highlighted the different experiences between those young ladies who had money, and those who didn't, and those who were white versus those
who were Black.
I wanted them all to have the full Olympic experience and win medals. This made me want to read more about the young ladies this book was based on.

A quick, interesting read. Couldn't put it down. I fell in love with the characters and felt horrible about their experiences both on and off the track, What drew me to the book in the first place was that running was involved and history. What a great mix in the book. Since I've finished reading it a while ago, I've been recommending it to library patrons.

I really enjoyed learning about the women who competed in the 1936 Olympics. While the beginning started slow and kind of drug out, the ending was exciting and you couldn’t help but cheering those girls on! It was fascinating reading about real athletes that actually competed and won. Especially during this time when women athletes were looked down upon. I also appreciated the author bringing to the forefront the racial issues that went on. It definitely left me made and irate on what happened with Louise and Tidye. I so wanted to see her race and get her opportunity at the end. It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come today. I know I heard it wasn’t until the 1980s that women were allowed to compete in the marathon at the Olympics. That’s just crazy that they let them sprint, but not run long distances. Thanks so much for the opportunity to get to read this fascinating, eye opening book!

This was an interesting glimpse into the struggles female Olympians faced in prewar America. I learned a lot about what kinds of struggles women faced prior to many of the rulings/norms we take for granted now, and look forward to reading more of this author in the future!