Homesick for his family at Bantry Bay, Francie decides to leave the hospital where he is being treated for his lame foot and walk home even though he's not altogether sure of how to get there.

Young Francie O'Sullivan, from the Irish family we first met in The Cottage at Bantry Bay has had a successful operation in a Dublin hospital, but longs to return to his beloved family in County Cork. He heads out the hospital door, no permission asked, and finds a train-won't any train do? Francie finds himself making a speedy tour (in the opposite direction from home) around the Emerald Isle, a journey full of adventure, laughter, and endearing friendships for Francie and the reader. Illustrated by the author.

When the sixteen-year-old boy whom she tutors in reading is accused of attempting to murder a white man, Francie gets herself in serious trouble for her efforts at friendship.

This book, written in 1938, offers a vivid picture of an Ireland that has all but disappeared. The O'Sullivan family invite the reader to share their many homely adventures. Michael and Brigid brave the wilds and gypsies on an errand for their injured father and come home with a new friend; twins Liam and Francie keep everyone hopping; Mother and Father draw the family together with story-telling, warmth and humor. Then Michael and Brigid find a treasure which changes the course of things for all. Illustrated by the author.

Today, millions of women and girls around the world enjoy running and entering races. It wasn't always so: • In 1961, when Julia Chase edged to the start of a Connecticut 5-miler, officials tried to push her off the road. • At the 1966 Boston Marathon, Roberta Gibb hid behind a forsythia bush, worried that police might arrest her. • The next year at Boston, Kathrine Switzer was assaulted mid-race by a furious race organizer. • In the mid-60s, Indianapolis high schooler Cheryl Bridges was told not to run anywhere near the boys' track team because she might "distract" them. • When Charlotte Lettis signed up for the University of Massachusetts cross-country team in the fall of 1971, she was told to use the men's locker room. • A few years later in coastal Maine, young Joan Benoit would stop her workouts to pretend she was picking roadside flowers, embarrassed that her neighbors might spot her running. First Ladies of Running tells the inspiring stories of these and other fiercely independent runners who refused to give up despite the cultural and sports barriers they faced. Legends such as Doris Brown, Francie Larrieu, Mary Decker, Jackie Hansen, Miki Gorman, and Grete Waitz are chronicled by Runner's World editor Amby Burfoot. Burfoot even runs the 1994 Marine Corps Marathon with Oprah Winfrey, whose successful finish opened the floodgates for other women runners. First Ladies of Running is a beautiful and long-overdue tribute to the pioneers of women's running, and a gift of empowerment for female runners everywhere.