This captivating look at the race to break the four-minute mile in the early 1950s focuses on the three top contenders: Roger Bannister of England, Wes Santee of the United States, and John Landy of Australia. Bascomb deftly follows each of their personal stories, as well as their growing awareness of one another, in an era when being in different parts of the world sometimes meant waiting two months to get an update on a time or race result from elsewhere—something that would be shared in seconds today. In a book as much about personal determination and grit as sport and a slice of history, each of the three runners had different styles, personalities, and challenges. Bannister didn’t meet his own or others’ expectations at the 1952 Olympics and committed himself to doing better; a full-time medical student and researcher, he often trained at night, the only free time he had. Santee had a difficult childhood; he succeeded on the track at the University of Kansas, but off the track he butted heads with the AAU. Landy was also a full-time student whose racing season in Australia was opposite those of Bannister’s and Santee’s. All the while, the world was watching, as this fast-paced, breathless account reveals the intense international interest in breaking the record, as well as in the rare head-to-head battles of two or more of the men, which garnered the same kind of attention as the Super Bowl or Olympics do today.   (Age 12 and older)

Highly acclaimed author Neal Bascomb brings his peerless research and fast-paced narrative style to a young adult adaptation of one of his most successful adult books of all time, The Perfect Mile, an inspiring and moving story of three men racing to achieve the impossible -- the perfect four-minute mile.

Scholastic Focus is the premier home of thoroughly researched, beautifully written, and thoughtfully designed works of narrative nonfiction aimed at middle-grade and young adult readers. These books help readers learn about the world in which they live and develop their critical thinking skills so that they may become dynamic citizens who are able to analyze and understand our past, participate in essential discussions about our present, and work to grow and build our future.

There was a time when running the mile in four minutes was believed to be beyond the limits of human foot speed. In 1952, after suffering defeat at the Helsinki Olympics, three world-class runners each set out to break this barrier: Roger Bannister was a young English medical student who epitomized the ideal of the amateur; John Landy the privileged son of a genteel Australian family; and Wes Santee the swaggering American, a Kansas farm boy and natural athlete.

Spanning three continents and defying the odds, these athletes' collective quest captivated the world. Neal Bascomb's bestselling adult account adapted for young readers delivers a breathtaking story of unlikely heroes and leaves us with a lasting portrait of the twilight years of the golden age of sport.