Loved how much I learned about our world's history through this story of the Olympic games. It's still a miracle how women in the past paved the way for women in sports. The black runners had not only their gender hurting them, but also their race. It gave me such joy to watch them flourish.
Hooper used a deft hand when writing this story as she wove fiction and history together. Nothing makes me happier than learning while I read. I liked how she formatted the story as it kept the plot moving forward.
Well done!
Links to follow.

Fans of historical fiction may want to read this newest title by Elise Hooper.  Ms. Hooper also authored The Other Alcott and Learning to See (about Dorothea Lange).  Both are in my TBR pile.


Ms. Hooper's newest novel tells the stories of the first women to compete. in what is now called track and field, in the Olympics.  Three main characters are featured along with many others.  The three are Betty, Louise and Helen.  They are not like one another in personality, where they live, in their challenges or in their families but they are all talented athletes.  Ms. Hooper brings them and the time period to life in this novel.


The beauty of historical fiction is how it brings the past to life in a way that involves the reader.  This book does that well and I recommend it.  This title may be a good one for high school aged girls as well.  As they more freely compete in athletics, they may be interested to know what it was like for girls like them in the past.


Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

Fast Girls tells the extraordinary tale of three lesser-known female Olympians from America who bravely pursue their dreams to compete in the Nazi-sponsored Olympic Games in 1936. These were the first integrated Olympics! This book has everything a great historical fiction should have! I think I need to make this book a selection for the book club that I co-host!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I am a big fan of Hooper and an even bigger fan of historical fiction. While I understand the need for this book to be almost 500 pages to cover to details of the many characters' rise to the Olympics, I could have done without the open door female romance (I personally felt it could have been covered in a more tactful and closed door way). The women's resiliency to fight the odds against them was inspiring, and I was glad to hear their stories. I do wish the beginning could have been consolidated in the details, with more focus on the actual Olympics.

This was a slow read for me. It is hard for me to explain. When I did sit down to read it, I found that I enjoyed the story and my interest was held. However, I had to force myself to pick it up to read. Overall, I found the book engaging enough to finish. I liked how the author wrote from different point of views from different characters. Historical fiction is not my favorite genre, so that may be while I struggled a bit with it. I would recommend this book to people who are historical fiction fans.

I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. My thanks to Elise Hooper, William Morrow Publishing, and Net Galley for this opportunity.

Fast Girls takes a look at the dawn of women’s competition in the Olympic Games, and focuses primarily on women track starts. Although it is a work of historical fiction with some fictional characters, the main four characters are based on real people, and it is shameful that I have never heard of them.

These courageous women were among the USA athletes that competed in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, the same year that Jesse Owens competed. Most people know of him, but most probably do not know of Betty Robinson, Helen Stephens, Tidye Pickett or Louise Stokes. These last two women had to battle not only the hurdle of being women, but also had to fight racism as well.

This story was very well written and researched. The afterword did a good job of tying up some lose ends, as I ended the book feeling like I wanted more resolution in the storylines.

I am not a huge historical fiction fan but I really liked this book! When we think of the 1936 Olympics many of us think of Jesse Owens and not much else. Elise Hooper did a great job of telling three different women's stories. I definitely recommend this book!

Synopsis: Author Elisa Hooper weaves fiction with the history of the 1920's and 1930's to create a beautiful work celebrating the triumphs and portraying the hardships of three of America's first female Olympic sprinters. Betty Robinson, Louise Stokes, and Helen Stephens come from very different backgrounds, but all have one thing in common -- they run, and they run fast. Each has to overcome what seem like insurmountable obstacles if they want to compete in the Olympics: Louise, competing as one of the few black runners - and even fewer female black runners - must face racism and bigotry at almost every turn just for the chance to race; Betty, the All-American "golden" girl, must dig down deep to find her physical and psychological strength after a near-fatal plane crash; and Helen, plagued by an emotionally abusive and poverty-stricken home life, finally finds someone who believes in her.

Thoughts: Historical fiction readers and sports fans alike can appreciate Hooper's fictional spin on what was a trailblazing time for women's sports. I found myself casually researching the amazing history behind each of these athletes as I was reading because I couldn't get enough of their stories. I appreciated the summary of Betty's, Louise's, and Helen's lives after the ending of the book, as well as Elise Hooper's outlining of where she took liberties and the brief explanation of how she formulated the fictional aspects of each woman's story. And the newspaper clippings, news reports, and personal correspondence between chapters added such an interesting layer to the entire book. Historical fiction is not usually my genre of choice, but this was a fascinating read and I will gladly pick up more of Elise Hooper's work.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exhance for an honest review.

I liked the story behind this book and found the main character inspiring - I love reading about sports and the setting and transformation of the time appealed to me. However, I found the way the book bounced around between time periods and narrative methods a bit confusing. The book time-travels quite a bit and it isn't always easy to connect different scenes to one another. Overall still a worthy & inspirational read, though!

Fast girls... Fast read... I loved everything about this book! The author did an excellent job of showing me how it felt to be a female Olympian during a time that was difficult for female athletes! I appreciated the friendships, the struggles, and the successes!

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this and give my honest opinion!

The fascinating story of the women who first competed in Olympic track and field, starting in 1928. The book is based on runners Betty Robinson, Helen Stephens, and Louise Stokes, who persevered through many adversities to become successful athletes who made it to the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

This is a well written and interesting true story of the 1936 women's Olympic track team, which was the first time the women's track team was integrated. Elise Hooper relates history in an interesting and engaging way, much like Laura Hillenbrand did in Seabiscuit.

If you love history, Olympic history, pre WWII history, and/or women's fiction and nonfiction, you will enjoy this book.

Its not just the Boys in the Boat and Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. There were some competitive women as well. This historical fiction account follows three women Beginning in 1928 we are let into their lives as they fight for a place in the race. Prior to 1928, women did not compete in track and field. A must read for anyone interested in women’s sports.

Interesting to be reminded of the struggles of women in this time period. I will watch the olympics now with a different look of the women competing. Well written.

Book Review: Fast Girls by Elise Hooper

Fast Girls was a wonderful piece of historical fiction about the first US women track and field athletes to compete in the Olympic Games in the late 1920’s through the 1930’s. I loved this book! The narrative, which is spattered with actual news articles of the time, explores the lives of three real-life female athletes, Betty Robinson, Helen Stephens, and Louise Stokes, who were all teammates for the US Women’s Track and Field team in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. Although these women were unique individuals from different backgrounds, they were all confronted with shared discriminations, both of gender and race, of various forms. Elise Hooper did a fantastic job of telling their stories and letting the facts, themselves, speak as to the inequality of the times. As a woman who has grown up in a time when I’ve been able to pursue sports without bias, this was a good reflection of just how far we’ve come. I found it to be an encouraging story and would especially recommend it for high school classes as it may prompt discussion and encourage more girls to explore their athletic abilities.

This was a great book. I liked all the characters and their personal stories leading up to the 1936 olympics . I had never really heard much about the pioneers of the sport of woman’s racing. I found it amazing to think that people thought woman shouldn’t run because it would be dangerous to their health. It was interesting to read that the Olympic athletes were encouraged to boycott the games due to the growing Hitler regime. Recommend!

Fast Girls is a gripping story of many women competing not just for a medal in the Olympics but for the respect and opportunity to compete at all as a woman. The story spans over 3 different Olympics, 1928 in Amsterdam, 1932 in Los Angeles and 1936 in Berlin. I gasped, laughed, cried and all of the feelings while reading this story. I loved learning about this part of history. It even made me think I should go for a jog?? I do think it was a bit too long but at the same time each girl’s story was so intriguing and so many details that lead to the 1936 games were important to include so I understand the length. I would have loved to read this as a trilogy with a book for each girl! Either way this is a gem of a book and I give it a solid 4 stars!

Thanks to William Morrow for the free review copy. All opinions are my own.

I love historical fiction written by Hooper. She takes women from history and tells their stories in such a vivid way. I enjoyed getting to read the story about the lives of three women who went to the 1936 Olympics. Her books are also comprehensive. The story started eight years earlier and helped to show what these women did and went through to achieve this goal. These were strong women and Hooper shows them that way in the story. She highlights the strength and fierceness of these women.

If you’re missing the Olympics this summer, I recommend checking this book out. It’s full of interesting women and events.

4 Olympic Stars

This is an interesting tale based on women who competed in the Olympics in from 1928-1936. I was struck by how far we’ve come in treating women more equal to men than during these times. However, our work is not done as women athletes still don’t get the same respect and support at the collegiate or professional level. I was almost incredulous reading that at this time, men really thought that it was too hard physically and mentally for women to compete and no one wanted to see pictures of them exerting themselves. Often these women couldn’t even race in high school and there was an uproar if they trained with the boys.

We hear about Betty Robinson who won gold in 1928 and then battles her way back after a terrifying plane crash. We also read about Louise Stokes, one of the early pioneering black women in track and field. I was appalled at the treatment she got at my Brown Palace hotel – being forced to sleep in an attic room meant for servants when the other Olympians got regular rooms. Also, the coach wouldn’t race her on the relay team and picked slower white athletes to compete.

Helen Stephens is also profiled, an amazing athlete, who at one point was accused of being a man because she was so dominant on the track. There are some chilling scenes at the 1936 Olympics with top Germans – including Hitler – who wanted to meet the athletes. Jesse Owens has a starring role of course.

I really enjoyed reading about these ground-breaking women. If you enjoyed “Boys in the Boat” I think you would like this one.

I really enjoyed learning about the history of women and the Olympics. I loved hearing about some of the beliefs that people used to have about women competing in athletics. My only complaint is that I would have liked to learn more about the 1936 Olympics and the politics related to it.