I’ve just read a great fantasy ebook about girls, bicycling, and gender justice (themes familiar to readers of this blog). Thanks to author Emily Street for sharing it with me. If you’re looking for a gift for a young woman in your life, cyclist or not, have a look at The Velocopide Races. It’s a compelling story set in a world in which bike racing plays a huge role (yay) but in which only boys can ride bikes or race (boo). Our heroine Emmeline sets out to change all that.
The Velocipede Races by Emily June Street –
From the book description: “Cutthroat velocipede racing enthralls the citizens of Seren, and Emmeline Escot was born to ride. There’s only one problem: she’s a girl. Serenias—the high-born women of the city—live tightly laced lives, cloistered by their families before marriage, rigidly controlled by their husbands after.
Emmeline watches her twin brother gain success as a professional racing jockey while her own life grows increasingly narrow. Yet her hunger to ride never dies. Ever more stifled by the rules of her life, Emmeline rebels—with stunning consequences.
Can her dream to race survive scandal, scrutiny, and heartbreak?”
About the author: Emily Street began writing as a child and never really stopped. Writing is the way she relaxes at home after a long day of rolling like a ball at her real job as a Pilates instructor. She lives in California with a husband and two mutts. When not hanging upside down in her Pilates studio or banging on her keyboard, she can be found cycling or swinging high on a flying trapeze
Published by Luminous Creatures Press
(Founded by Beth Deitchman and Emily June Street, Luminous Creatures Press is an e-publishing company specializing in fantasy and speculative fiction.)
Thanks Luminous Creatures for sharing this book with us!
In case you’re wondering what a velocipede is, here’s Wikipedia to the answer:
“Velocipede (/vəˈlɒsəpiːd/; Latin for “fast foot”) is ahuman-powered land vehicle with one or more wheels. The most common type of velocipede today is the bicycle.The term was coined by Frenchman Nicéphore Niépce in 1818 to describe his version of theLaufmaschine, which was invented by the GermanKarl Drais in 1817. The term “velocipede” is today, however, mainly used as a collective term for the different forerunners of the monowheel, theunicycle, the bicycle, the dicycle, the tricycle and thequadracycle developed between 1817 and 1880.”
