Bravey: Chasing Dreams, Befriending Pain, and Other Big Ideas

Pappas is an Olympic runner, actress, filmmaker and writer. In her debut, she writes about her journey to becoming an Olympian. She reflects on her upbringing, after her mom died by suicide when she was four years old, and subsequently being raised by her father. She uses humor at times to write about different events in her life, but also is serious when needed. Pappas ties in her own experiences with running to discussions around how coaches should be better educated about female development and how that impacts running. This is the strongest part of the book, with the author drawing on her own experience of how not being on her high school track team actually helped her development as a runner. Pappas, who has dual citizenship, competed for Greece in the Olympics in 2016, becoming the first female distance runner from Greece ever to make it to the Olympics in the 10,000M. She also writes about her career and interests off the track.