I Run to Make My Heart Beat

    (Fairsquare, 2024)
™ and © Fairsquare

Black History Month! Nina was born in a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic family. A mixed young woman with many questions about herself and her space in the world. Track and field competition will help her overcome her doubts. She runs, not to escape reality, but to be the champion of her own life! It’s the mid-1990s. Nina is 18. She’s trying to find her place in a world constantly throwing her differences back at her face. Her father is black Muslim of Gambian origins, and her mother is of Polish-Jewish descent. But Nina will turn her differences into strength as she embraces track and field. She runs to escape injustice, history, the big and small things in her life. This beautiful and inspirational graphic novel takes us through the various stages of adult life, including first loves, mourning, physical violence, self-acceptance, self-transcendence. We witness Rachel Khan’s character (and quasi alter-ego) rise as a woman and a great athlete. Aude Massot sincerely and compassionately illustrates this touching story. A critically essential message of tolerance and unity in a divided world.
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