The book is easy to leap into and be carried along with, the pace at once steady and breathless.

Carrie Snyder’s novel is not one framed merely in reminiscences, the vibrant past contrasted against a thin and aging future; the present is filled with drama and challenge as well, as two mysterious characters show up at the nursing home to which Aggie is confined and spirit her off to the home she was raised in. .. However, what defines the novel is the depth and breadth of Aggie herself; she’s a rare heroine whose rich internal life is matched only by the abundance of her external living. Her complexities, her desires and failures and her deep relationships are the book’s heart; her connections to her family and friends, her mentors and antagonists, are authentic and beautifully wrought.

Girl Runner is a well-paced book that weaves together the past and present narratives of an uncompromising woman’s life. We are sped through an accessible read that deftly touches on the difficult subjects of gender equality, abortion, and the obstacles women face in professional sports. Throughout the novel, Snyder, a distance runner herself, manages to capture the essence of the need to run, that marrow-deep desire....At its core, Girl Runner manages to remind us of the challenges often set before women attempting to achieve something once thought to be dangerous or out of reach, or even quite simply attempting to achieve the life they desire.