Go! Go! Go!

2/8/2018

Girl Running: Bobbi Gibb and the Boston Marathon
by Annette Bay Pimentel ill by Micha Archer

Meet Bobbi Gibb, a determined young woman. Annette Bay Pimentel chronicles her story in Girl Running: Bobbi Gibb and the Boston Marathon. The narrative begins during a bleak New England winter. Bobbi, a young student, gazes longingly out the classroom window, turning her back on the students’ domestic activity. Bobbi is a runner and she wants to run. After viewing a Boston Marathon, her goal becomes to participate in this annual event. Wearing a pair of nurses' shoes (running shoes for women have yet to be manufactured) she trains for two years. When her application to participate in the Boston Marathon is denied "women are not physiologically able to run twenty-six miles and furthermore the rules do not allow it", Bobbi decides to participate anyway.

She runs alongside registered competitors, completing the entire marathon and crossing the finish line with them. Sadly, her effort was ignored by the marathon director and her results received no official recognition. Nonetheless, her achievement was a seminal moment in the struggle to erase misconceptions of a woman's ability to compete in arduous athletic contests. Echoing the pace of the race, the text keeps readers engrossed in the story as it builds to a triumphal conclusion. Readers will find themselves cheering for her.
Go Bobbi! Go every girl and woman who wants to join the race!
Back matter includes an afterword, a note of the use of Bobbi's name, a selected bibliography, and attribution for the quotes used throughout the text.
Poignant. Inspiring.

Collages created by Micha Archer are stunning. They add important details and context to the story. When Bobbi attends the Boston Marathon as a spectator, points along the 26.2-mile route run across the bottom of the two-page spread. When Bobbi secretly enters the Boston Marathon, Archer begins to chronicle her route from start to finish on the base of each page. She ingeniously depicts the elevation as well as the distance of the entire course. The final spread features Bobbi running up a hill, leading a pack of girls running. Beneath their feet the names of previous female marathon participants are inscribed on solid ground. The symbolism is exquisite.