A New York Public Library Best Book of 2024
A School Library Journal Best Book of 2024
In this memoir for young readers, Olympic champion runner Caster Semenya reflects on her groundbreaking career and her fight for identity in professional sports.
Caster Semenya is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a three-time world champion in track from South Africa. Since her first spectacular performance at the 2009 World Championship in Berlin, she has been at the center of a growing debate about female eligibility rules in professional athletics because of her naturally high testosterone levels. After she was forced to take devastating hormone-altering drugs in order to continue competing, this debate has moved to center stage in the future of inclusivity for professional athletes.
In this middle grade adaptation of her debut adult memoir, Caster recounts her childhood growing up in a small village in South Africa, the love for and acceptance of her identity from her community, and her trailblazing fight for the right to compete in professional sports. The Race to Be Myself is an illuminating and necessary story of identity and self-acceptance that will resonate with young readers.
