Author: David A. Adler
Summary: This story is about a woman named Gertrude Ederle who was born in 1906 in America. The story follows Gertrude "Trudy" 's life as she grew up in a time when women were seen to be the weaker gender. Trudy learns how to swim at the age of seven in Germany when visiting her grandmother and afterwards continues to become such a talented swimmer that she won three gold medals in the Olympics in Paris and set twenty-nine records by 1925. Trudy decides that she must do what no woman, and only five men, has ever done before, swimming the English Channel. Trudy must overcome the challenge of the twenty-one mile of ice cold, rough water. Once she finally does, she is called "America's Best Girl" by President Coolidge and is thought to have, "shattered" the thought that women are weaker than men.
Lesson: After reading this story I would have students discuss with one another a challenge they would like to overcome one day in their future as a young adult/adult and also a challenge they would like to beat this school year. They would be given a blank note card where they are to write and draw their challenge for the future along with the challenge for this school year. After they are done, I would tape them in their agendas so they can be reminded daily of their ability to beat a challenge they have designed.
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