Fast Girls: A Novel of the 1936 Women's Olympic Team

ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF THE SUMMER BY POPSUGAR, FROLIC, PARADE, TRAVEL & LEISURE, SHE KNOWS, and SHE READS! 

NAMED A REAL SIMPLE BEST BOOK OF 2020 (SO FAR).
“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 Girl


Acclaimed 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.