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 reading this book!  The vast differences in the characters and their backgrounds and how they all merge together in their common love of running was wonderfully written!  I loved the snapshot glimpse of the experiences of women competitors in the early days of the Olympics as well.

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!

A fantastic fictional story based on the lives of three women preparing to compete in track and field at the 1936 Olympic Games. All three of the athletes came from vastly differing background and overcame many obstacles including poverty, injury, sexism and racism to even get the opportunity to compete in the hotly contested Olympic Games. This book will have you spring with each women’s triumphs and in tears over their setbacks. The Olympics are my absolute favorite sporting event and this book truly represents the spirit of the Games and the heart of those athletes that give all they have to compete.

If you liked Cool Runnings, you'll love Fast Girls. Admittedly I wasn't sure about it at the start, but as I kept reading I got completely hooked until I finished it well past midnight. It's impossible not to root for Betty, and Helen, and Louise!

The 1936 Summer Olympics are famous for many reasons. They were also only the third modern Olympics where females were allowed to participate in Athletics events, what we now call Track and Field. Betty Robinson, Louise Robinson, and Helen Stokes were all part of the team representing the United States. Fast Girls is a novelization of their early lives and their journey through the Olympic cycles of 1928 to 1936. Hooper skillfully raises the tension in pivotal scenes, and has the reader thoroughly invested in the women’s stories. I would recommend this book to readers of Pam Jenoff and Martha Hall Kelly, with the caveat below. 

For all of my engagement with the story, something just wasn’t right, resulting in the three star rating.It’s difficult to articulate, but I think the closest I can come is that the author treats the women as characters in her story, not as historical figures with their own stories. In reviewing her comments about the inspiration for the characters after the end of the novel, I questioned some of her decisions and wondered why the deviations from reality were necessary. It’s true that the lives of these women are nowhere near as well documented as those of male athletes of the time, and the demands of creating a narrative require some of those holes to be filled in with speculation; however, I would have preferred that the story contain more holes if it left more facts intact. I also hope that a bibliography or resource list, even a limited one, is included in the final version of the book, to help those who want to learn more about these women. 

Final recommendation: As a story, it’s a good read. As a piece of biographical fiction, I’m less convinced. 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

Really enjoyed this! I love historical fiction and this is a perspective I really knew nothing about, and I found it so interesting! I especially liked the inclusion of the newspaper articles. I don’t know how much of those were actual articles and how much was fictionalized but it really reminded you of how women were looked at during that time period.

This novel set in 1936 at the Olympics in Berlin was an absolutely wonderful novel.  I have read several articles about that particular Olympic in Germany, that of Jesse Owens, the female Olympians and, of course, Hitler.  I will say you learn more reading this historic novels than you do in school.  Excellent and highly recommended.  My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishing for my ARC of this wonderful novel. This is the story of three very diverse women making their way onto the 1936 Olympic team; a time of uncertainty as the Olympics were in Berlin and women were not considered to be true athletes.  I found each of their stories fascinating. These women had many hurtles to overcome. The writer shares their stories in such a way that you feel as though you truly know these women. I also appreciated the Afterword giving a synopsis of each character’s future as well as explaining some of the areas where the author included some of her own creativity. I highly recommend this beautifully written novel about very strong women making a difference in the world of women’s athletics. I would highly recommend this book.

Thanks to Book Club Girl's Early Read Program for a digital advance reader's copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

I'm not a sports enthusiast, neither a participant nor spectator, but I found this to be a fascinating novel describing a lesser known story of women athletes during the 1930's. It's historical fiction based on several real women runners competing in the 1936 Olympics. Some of the sports names most people will recognize, but the novel focuses on the experiences of a few young unknown women. Short chapters alternating points of view between the main characters are interspersed with news articles to tell the story of these women and how they developed their running talent leading up to the Olympics. The author's research was detailed and realistically described the time period: married women couldn't teach high school, running was thought to make women look too masculine, athletics were considered damaging to women's health, and the racism during this time was appalling.

The climax of the book is the 1936 Olympic competition in Berlin. Author Elise Hooper skillfully creates tension between the threatening Germans and the track competitions as the different events unfold - Who will compete? Who will be sent home? Will injuries sideline athletes? Will the Americans win the gold medals? This should be required reading for high school and college history classes. And I highly recommend it for you!

I loved this book. It was fascinating to see how women got into competing in the Olympics. It was also very sad to see the problems women and African American women faced trying to compete as well. I really enjoyed this book.