News-Star, Shawnee
Review by W.M. Hagen

 Molly Levite Griffis. The Great American Bunion Derby.  Austin, Texas.
 Eakin Press. 2003. 87 pages. $9.95. ISBN 1-57168-810-2.

 With the help of historian, Jim Ross, Molly Levite Griffis has created
 a delightfully readable account of the fabled 1928 cross-America race
 won by Oklahoman Andy Payne, for which he was awarded the grand prize of
 $25,000.  Written in large print for those at both ends of life, the
 story is leavened with photographs and graphics--even down to a picture
 of the prize check.

 It's a story worth telling and retelling, from Andy' struggling to
 raise an entry fee of $125 for a race that would follow newly opened
 Route 66--much of it unpaved--from Los Angeles to Chicago, and then to
 New York City.  The story features an international cast of runners,
 and a promoter, C.C. Pyle, who advertised that this was the "first
 trans-continental foot race," hoping that towns along the way would
 bargain to be put on the route (or detours from the route) and would
 flock to the carnival each night that would feature the runners.  He was
 way ahead of his time, so much so that there was a question of whether
 he would earn enough to make good on the prize money at the end of the
 race.

 By the time the racers got to Oklahoma, Andy was a celebrity. He was
 given $1,000 when he crossed the state line first, and was so mobbed
 with well wishers across the state, that he fell behind an Italian
 marathoner, who probably would have won if he hadn't had to drop out.
 Will Rogers, for a time, became the second most famous Cherokee
 Oklahoman.  Just to add to the excitement, as they neared the finish,
 with Andy in the lead,  a news report surfaced that a second place
 runner has friends in New Jersey who might attempt to run Andy down
 before the finish in Madison Square Garden.

 Much of the fun along the way comes from the spirited style of author
 Griffis.  Here are a couple of sentences, from the Mojave Desert portion
 of the race:

 "The sun beat down on him like a mallet on a powwow drum, steady and
 strong, and tried to melt him into the sand.  But picturing the look on
 his folks faces when he handed them the prize money helped him shake off
 the heat like a hosed-down hound dog and keep on running" (34).

 As was the case with her novels centering on children growing up in a
 small Oklahoma town during World War II--The Rachel Resistance and The
 Feester Filibuster--,  Molly Griffis knows the insides of her
 characters. The pain of running day after day, the comeraderie that
 grew up among the runners,  the motivation of saving his father's farm
 and marrying the girl he loved, and, especially, the good humor of Andy
 Payne make the race, finally, much more than a major sporting event.

 Although written at a youth level, The Great American Bunion Derby  is
 a very satisfying read for all ages.  Then readers may want to try the
 World War II series, soon to be filled out with a third title.
 

from BOOKLIST   Great American Bunion Derby, 2003. 88p illus. Eakin, $15.95 paper $9.95   Gr. 3-7  "He pumped his legs like out-of-control jackhammers." In a lively, down-home storytelling style, Griffis describes the 1927 International Trans-Continental Foot Race, nicknamed the Bunion Derby, from the viewpoint of the winner, 20 year old Andy Payne, a part-Cherokee farm boy from Oklahoma.  The 3,423 mile race across the U.S. from California to New York was an endurance contest as well as a footrace, and tension builds as Andy makes it to the front and keeps going with the champions ("running like his britches were on fire") through rain, desert, snow, and every kind of terrain. In an afterword, Griffis notes that she fictionalized a lot, with the permission of the late Andy Payne's family, but she tried to be "true to his spirit and kind to his memory." At times the exclamatory style becomes a bit tiresome, with a cute simile in almost every sentence, but this might be fun to read aloud. The design is spacious, and lively black-and-white photos are scattered throughout.-- Hazel Rochman

The Great American Bunion Derby, finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award In a lively, down-home storytelling style, Griffis describes the 1927 International Trans-Continental Foot Race from the viewpoint of the winner, 20-year-old Andy Payne, a part-Cherokee farm boy from Oklahoma...fun to read aloud. The design is spacious, and lively black-and-white photos are scattered throughout.--Booklist

The Great American Bunion Derby--it’s a grabber, it’s a page turner. I was absolutely riveted. I ran every suspenseful and grueling mile with Andy Payne as he proved that a ‘runner’s heart’ can overcome all obstacles. It left me with such a warm and fuzzy feeling, that I just didn’t want it to end.--Dennis Weaver, Actor