Fast Girls, Elise Hooper
Fast Girls, Elise Hooper
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Fast Girls
A Novel of the 1936 Women’s Olympic Team.

Author: Elise Hooper

Narrator: Karissa Vacker, Kristyl Dawn Tift, Reba Buhr, Kaleo Griffith

Unabridged: 12 hr 4 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 07/07/2020


Synopsis

“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 GirlAcclaimed 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. 

About Elise Hooper

A native New Englander, Elise Hooper spent several years writing for television and online news outlets before getting an MA and teaching high-school literature and history. Her debut novel, The Other Alcott, was a nominee for the 2017 Washington Book Award. More novels—Learning to See, Fast Girls, and Angels of the Pacific—followed, all centered on the lives of extraordinary but overlooked historical women. Hooper now lives in Seattle with her husband and two teenage daughters. 


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kate on January 30, 2020

Read an ARC for a cover quote; enjoyed hugely!......more

Goodreads review by Joan on July 06, 2020

When we think of the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany, it is the great Jessie Owens who springs to mind. However, the lesser known, yet equally fascinating story of the Women’s Olympic team is what Elise Hooper writes about in her new novel. Tracing the lives of three amazing women, Betty Robinson, Lou......more

Goodreads review by Darla on June 25, 2020

A fascinating tale of the grit and determination of some of the women who pioneered in the Olympic arena. Hooper deftly weaves figures like Betty Robinson, Helen Stephens, Louise Stokes, around the historic events of the Olympics in Amsterdam in 1928, Los Angeles in 1932, and the high-profile games......more

Goodreads review by Christi on July 10, 2020

When someone thinks of the 1936 Olympics, most people will associate it with Jesse Owens set against a tense political landscape. They wouldn’t be wrong – he won 4 gold medals and became a legend. But beyond that women were still fighting for acceptance as athletes as many felt that a woman’s place......more