This is an enlightening, and empowering, story of a group of women who had so much to overcome in their lives to reach their goal of competing in the Olympics. The time held many obstacles, often different for each woman: gender, race, wealth (or lack thereof), upbringing, sexuality, injury, married or not. Then add the world issues beginning in Berlin, where the 1936 Olympics were held. I did not know many of these names prior to reading this story, but am interested in learning more about them after being inspired by what they each overcame to achieve their goals.

Although this book is historical fiction, most of the story is factual--I know I looked it up because i could not wait until the end to discover how the Olympic Games of 1936 came out for the women. I had always heard about Jesse Owens, but did not know that the women had embarassed Hitler also. As noted the book is written as a story, but as with real life not everything is perfect in it. Spoiler Alert: Louse does not get to win a medal--she doesn't even get to race and even though Ms. Hooper made us want her to win, she did not change history just for a happy ending. I thought the book did a really wonderful job of informing the reader of some little known, but important personages, in the early days of track and field and the Olympics.

I love to read books that are fiction, but rich in history. This book is about three young ladies that are athletes going to compete in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. This is an adventure about how they got as far as being picked to go to Berlin, the travels to Berlin, and the adventures once arriving in Berlin. Traveling to Berlin with no family must have been a bit frightening and exciting. A wonderful read of endurance and the pioneering spirit. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a great adventure!

Review for Netgalley

Fast Girls is an inspiring delight! Consider it a fictionalized Boys in the Boat for young women athletes. Focusing on real-life track and field elites like Betty Robinson, Louise Stokes, Babe Didrickson, and Helen Stephens, Elise Hooper weaves an engaging story of the hopes, dreams, and struggles these young women faced on their to journey to the Berlin Olympics. Issues of overcoming severe injury, poverty, sexual assault, and racial injustice are covered through the interwoven stories surrounding these remarkable women.

I found this book to be very good. This book follows the lives of three very determined female athletes who compete in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. A lot of people did not want women or blacks competing in track & field at the Olympics as they said it was too hard for women. These women fought to compete and made history in the 1936 Olympics.

I received and advanced reader copy of Fast Girls from Harper Collins. Great historical fiction about the first women that raced in track and field in the Olympics in the 1920s and 30s. Interesting historical backdrop and well developed characters representing several aspects of society—women, men, urban, rural, LGBTQ+, and various races. At first there were many parallel story lines with different women and I wasn’t sure how they were going to intersect but eventually they did and did well. Easy read that I had trouble putting down!

I was so excited to read this book and really wanted to love it. I love the Olympics and, as an Ohioan, Jesse Owens' prowess at the 1936 games looms large. So I was extremely interested to read about the women involved in the 1936 games. The author picked three fascinating women, all real athletes, to tell the story. Betty Robinson, Helen Stephens, and Louise Stokes were captivating people and I enjoyed learning about them and following their roads to the 1936 games. I am especially grateful that the author included Louise as a main character and Tidye Pickett as a secondary character, two Black female athletes, because their inclusion allowed the reader to see how racism still influenced the American team at the Olympics despite the achievements of the Black male runners. And highlighting this inequality in light of the Nazi State's own discriminatory practices certainly prompts the reader to think.

As good as this story could have been, I felt that it fell short of the mark. The main characters were all likeable but it took too long for the story to climax. We first meet Betty eight years before the Berlin Games. In fact, the story doesn't even begin to focus on the 1936 Olympics until 80% through the book. As interesting and necessary as it is to understand the background of each of the runners, especially the experience of Louise and Tidye at the 1932 Los Angeles Games, the set-up took too long. Additionally, the writing was flat and uninspiring. I never hit that point where I HAD to know what happens next. I spent most of the book wondering when we were going to get to Berlin.

Overall, this book was a 3.5 for me. I didn't love it, but I certainly learned a lot about the women who broke barriers and records in the 1920s and 30s.

Wow I just finished Fast Girls by Elise Hooper and it was a fabulous read. It is about the girls that ran in the Olympics 1928 - 1936. At first it seemed to jump around too much and was hard to keep track of all of the characters. But by rhe end I was rooting for each of the characters. I did peek at Google to see if the cgaracters were real, but held back from looking at the results of the races. Great book.
This was an ARC copy from Netgalley and The Book Club Girls.

Fast Girls is an incredible novel based on the first female runners to make it in the Olympics It's something I've never given much thought to but the writing was beautiful and kept me wanting to know even more about them!

Fast Girls is the story of the female Olympian in 1928 to 1936 Olympics. It follows the story of Betty Robinson, from Chicago and first US woman’s gold medal in track and field; Louise Stokes , from Boston and black Olympian; Helen Stephens, from Missouri to win gold in 100 yard dash and relay at 1936 Berlin Olympics. Three other athletes are highlighted in a study of personal, individual, and society challenges to compete in pre Nazi Olympics. Well worth the read from a historical and women’s prescriptive.

I love that it is a book about women breaking into a field that was male-dominated. I love the era. I was excited to read about something that I am not familiar with and I did learn several things. I was disappointed that I didn't find the book to be more interesting. I found myself reading to finish the book so I could do a review, not reading because I was enjoying it. To me, it was just an ok read.

NetGalley ARC | Ugh, I hate to even say this, but one of my most anticipated summer 2020 historical fiction books, Fast Girls, turned out to be a dud. For me, Fast Girls is poorly written, boring, and just something I could not get through.

The writing and format are filled with mistakes and just don't work--maybe it was the ARC I received? I couldn't find a plot, and I put this one down a few chapters in--which is why I am leaving off the star rating on Goodreads.

Thank you to the author and publisher for a free advanced copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book gives voice and recognition to pioneer women athletes of the 1930s by telling the stories of three different female runners who competed in the 1936 olympics. I appreciated that the book presents each woman in a favorable light and details the obstacles they had to overcome. The book definitely touches on some heavy topics like gender inequality, racism, and sexual abuse. However, I felt that it was a bit superficial at times and did not always captivate me. Overall, I feel that reading this book was worthwhile because I was happy to learn about these trailblazer women and the way they opened doors for future female athletes. I also appreciated the afterward, which detailed which events were based in fact and explained what happened to each woman after the olympics. However, the story felt at times simplistic and I did not ever really feel engrossed in the book, like I couldn't put it down.

What a fabulous story!!! Reading this book, I laughed & cried & could not
put it down till I finished! Beautifully written with the characters feeling like they were your friends!
I will definitely suggest this to every everyone I know!!!

I loved this book! This was such an interesting topic, because not only did it deal with the politics of having the Olympics in Nazi Germany, but it also tackled women's rights and segregation. I thought it was very well written and researched, and the characters felt brought to life. I look forward to reading more by this author! I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

This book was an enjoyable read from the first page. I enjoyed all the character developments, and found myself cheering them on! Before reading this book, I was not aware of the strides women had to take to compete in the Olympics, thank you for bringing their struggles to life for us. Their determination and commitment paved the way for so many future female athletes. I will read more by this author.

Fast Girls is both a heartwarming and heartwrenching story based on historical events, focusing on 3 women who battled through societal, racial, gender and sexual biases of the 1920s and 1930s in their attempts to compete as runners in the Olympic games. The personal experiences of the 3 main characters and their ability to face the many obstacles of this time period were the highlight of this book for me, their characters developed as beautifully as the story line, which built up quickly in the second half of the book to a crescendo of anticipation as the 1936 Olympics drew near and foreshadowed historical events that we all know too well as well as many details that I wasn't aware of but enjoyed learning about in this format. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review - the one thing I would recommend is to include an "About the Author" section as I always enjoy reading about the author and how their own life relates to the story.

Fast Girls is a thrilling account of the first 2 Olympic games where women were able to compete in track and field events. I enjoyed following each woman through her struggles and victories. Well written! Loved the Afterword section which highlighted the factual information on each athlete, as well as the author's additions for the sake of the story. I look forward to reading more from Elise Hooper!

In 1928, Betty Robinson of Chicago is the All-American girl next-door. She is petite and pretty, but also fast, representing the U.S.A she takes the gold in the 100 meter race at the Olympics that year. Reading all about Betty Robinson in the papers makes 10-year-old Helen Stephens, of Missouri, want to be a great athlete like Betty someday. Meanwhile in Massachusetts, 15-year-old African-American, Louise Stokes has no idea that she herself is a runner, but by 1936 their paths will cross as they all head to Berlin for the 1936 Olympic games. These three athletes faced many obstacles and discrimination, and through their strength and determination they made it possible for women of all races to compete.

Elise Hooper explores the tenuous world of female Olympic athletes during Hitler’s reign. Three extraordinary U.S. female runners are spotlighted in this exquisitely written and highly entertaining work of historical fiction. The story depicts each of the women’s stories as they come into their own as athletes and finally meet together to join the 1936 Olympic track team held in Nazi-run Berlin, Germany. The women struggle to be their gifted selves and be accepted into a man’s world of athletics. Along with the excruciatingly abundant sexism that they all face, one must deal with overt racism as well.

I can’t say enough good things about this. Like Liac Girls and the Tattooist of Auschwitz, this is a story that desperately needed to be told. This women were incredibly talented but had to sacrifice and endure so much in order to make their marks in a “white man’s world.” Not only was this a great story, but the writing is excellent - a definite page-turner. I predict that this will be a huge summer hit and will be especially popular with book clubs. 5 well-earned stars!