Noe’s Comics Nook: I Run to Make My Heart Beat

Review

I Run to Make My Heart Beat is a coming-of-age comics adaptation of Rachel Khan’s earlier book, Les Grandes et les Petites, a novel built on her real-life experiences growing up in France in the 1990s. In I Run, we follow 18-year-old Nina Gray, a biracial college student up against the weight of history and family expectations on all sides. Running, ultimately climbing to win the 100-meter race, is both how the story is moved forward and how, as the title suggests, Nina handles the stresses of her life (even if the competitive drama of being part of a running group adds its own, unique, kind of stressors).

While US readers may not immediately understand all of the nuance of French-style racism at play, it will be obvious from the illustrations, the characters gestures and words, what is happening throughout the story. Combined with these tensions, Nina is also navigating pressures and assumptions because of her Jewish heritage – both at home and in the wider world. Those familiar with the pressures to academically succeed at all other costs will identify with Nina, as she must convince her family (largely, her father) that running is not only important to her, but necessary, and does not take away from her academic performance. Aude Massot’s artwork, particularly their use of color, is put to full effect to highlight tensions, to draw the eye, and to breath life into the characters.

Along the way, we see Nina lean on old friendships, gain new ones, and face the inevitable, as time marches forward despite our wishes. Filled with hard moments, but presented with a tender hand and with enough levity to keep the reader engaged, this is a coming-of-age story well-worth your time. Readers should be prepared for smoking, drugs, alcohol, discrimination, and sexual assault; all hard topics, but important for teenagers to see depicted because they are already experiencing these things, whether adults like it or not. The depictions are handled with care and are not excessive.

Elements of Story

Plot: Nina is 18 and trying to find her way through a world that wants her to be one thing, when the truth is, she contains multitudes. As she runs to escape it all – and, to win – she’ll learn about herself, the world, and how to be herself in the face of it all.

Characters: Nina; Anna; Albert; Yoram; David; Karim; Dorothy; Jackson; Nadia; Coach

Major Settings: Nina’s home; local stadium; Pantheon-Assas University; Paris

Themes: Coming-of-age; Track; History; Identity (race, gender, religious); Discrimination

Lesson Plan Idea Using Common Core Standards (CCS) CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.2 – Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.

Directions: As is often the case with coming-of-age stories, there are a lot of themes and major events throughout I Run to Make My Heart Beat. This helps ensure most readers will find at least one thing to relate to throughout the book, I think, and it also provides an opportunity for students to explore further that specific topic or moment that speaks to them. While the brief assignment below is written with the assumption of a typical writing assignment, it can easily be adapted to other mediums – a zine, a podcast, etc.

1. Students are to read I Run to Make My Heart Beat in full.

2. In (at least) one page, students will share their review of the book, their opinions on it as a whole, as well as providing an overview of the plot and identifying at least three central themes.

3. In (at least) one page, students will choose one of the themes or pivotal plot points that stood out to them and provide more detail on the theme or moment. Students will make reference to specific passages or panels from the book, and are also encouraged to share why this stood out to them and to include experiences from their own life that make that moment so relatable.