The Quickest Kid in Clarksville

Using Olympic runner Wilma Rudolph's 1960 homecoming parade as a backdrop, the story is a lively look at the rivalry between two of Wilma's young fans - narrator Alta and Charmaine. The girls' initial interaction - a chance meeting that turns into a race - feels like an authentic childhood competition: "Charmaine's face tightens. 'Reckon I'm faster than anyone.' I puff up like a spitting cat. She wishes she were Wilma. But I'm the real deal. I point to the mailbox. ‘There and back.'" It is gratifying that Alta and Charmaine later join forces - running a relay with a "Run Wilma Run" banner - to get Wilma's attention at the parade. Frank Morrison's vibrant illustrations are expressive and charming. Elongated limbs and exaggerated movements put an emphasis on the girls' athleticism. An author's note provides further information about Wilma Rudolph's life and accomplishments, as well as segregation in the South. Reading about Wilma's insistence that her homecoming parade be integrated is inspiring: "Wilma's celebrations were the first major events for blacks and whites in Clarksville history."

In this engaging, lively story, Alta's self-proclaimed "quickest kid in Clarksville" title is challenged by new-girl Charmaine. But on the day of the parade celebrating their hero, 1960 Olympic track star Wilma Rudolph, the girls collaborate. The text hints at the remarkable fact that Rudolph insisted that the celebrations be integrated; an author's note provides fuller mention and further information about Rudolph's life and achievements.

Miller introduces us to Alta, the self-proclaimed "quickest kid in Clarksville" -- the same town that her shero, Wilma Rudolph, is from. As Alta daydreams about an upcoming parade celebrating the 1960 Olympic track star, she is confronted by Charmaine, a new girl with shiny new shoes (shoes "like Wilma's") who has the audacity to try to claim Alta's title. Their first few races against each other end in a draw, and their interactions are less than cordial. Charmaine taunts Alta about her old shoes, and in response Alta admits, "My toe hits a rock...That rock hits Charmaine." On the day of the parade, however, the girls must decide whether or not they can stop the angry competition, and they begin to collaborate. Miller has penned an engaging, lively story. Of particular note is Alta's way of keeping pace as she runs -- her repeated refrain of "Wil-ma Ru-dolph. Wil-ma Ru-dolph" echoes the story's steady rhythm. Illustrator Morrison (Little Melba and Her Big Trombone, rev. 11/14) has added a softness to his style with the use of watercolors; however, his familiar use of elongated limbs is on full display in the racing scenes between Alta and Charmaine. The remarkable fact that, in the Jim Crow South, Wilma Rudolph insisted that the celebrations in her honor be integrated is hinted at in the text, in Alta's fragmented sentences describing the parade ("Black faces. And white ones"); an author's note provides fuller mention ("Wilma's celebrations were the first major events for blacks and whites in Clarksville history") as well as further information about Rudolph's life and achievements. eboni njoku