Three Rooms Press books are often assigned to students for reading lists and occasionally textbooks. But never has response been as enthusiastic as when UC Berkeley visiting lecturer Bonnie Morris, PhD (author of What’s the Score? 25 Years of Teaching Sports History) assigned Lucy Jane Bledsoe’s critically-acclaimed novel NO STOPPING US NOW as a textbook for students in her Sports and Gender in U.S. History class.

Bonnie Morris, PhD

Morris describes her class as one which “covers the history of sex discrimination in women’s sports (as well as racial segregation and global sports controversies).” The Fall 2022 semester class enrolled ”200 students from all over the world, including Olympic athletes, members of the Cal football team, and returning adult students.”

NO STOPPING US NOW, now a finalist for the Golden Poppy Award, tells the story of female high school teen basketball players fighting for a team of their own in 1974 (just after the passage of Title IX).” School Library Journal raved, “Richly developed bold, courageous characters and raw emotion deftly captures the period of transition, not just for Louisa but for women’s rights in the 1970s.”

“I’m happy to note that about a third of the students elected to discuss the impact of the book’s storyline in their final exam essays! I’ll certainly use it again in fall 2023.” —Bonnie Morris, American scholar of women’s studies; author, What’s the Score?

What was the reaction to NO STOPPING US NOW from the students? Morris says, “I’m happy to note that about a third of the students elected to discuss the impact of the book’s storyline in their final exam essays! I’ll certainly use it again in fall 2023.”

Here’s a few of the student comments about NO STOPPING US NOW, from their final exams:

“In Bledsoe’s book, we get to read about the perspective of a young high school basketball athlete. As she describes her matches, we are able to see a lot of disparities, from not having access to school-provided physical education to not having any female locker rooms. Yet these female athletes continued playing for the love of the game–even having to practice at local parks.” —Esmeralda Velasquez

“While Title IX provided women with more opportunities in athletics, initially this was only true on paper. Equal opportunities weren’t implemented at first and required women athletes to push for them, essentially acting as enforcers of the law. In No Stopping Us Now, for instance, a female athlete attempted to form a girls’ team but wasn’t allowed, even though her actions were in complete compliance with Title IX: it called for ending sex-based discrimination in federally funded programs.” —Kush Goswami

“Many schools were very resistant to complying with Title IX, especially when sport became involved. As Lucy Bledsoe found in her own life and recounted in her book No Stopping Us Now, school authorities were against change and were often dismissive of the subject.” —Laura Wong

“The law was met with immediate pushback—particularly from athletic departments reluctant to make necessary changes. No Stopping Us Now illustrates this at the high school level; the book shows the strong pushback from boys’ coaches, as Louisa becomes a target for harassment as she pursues equality.” —Paige Begley

”Highlights how legal changes don’t always correlate to societal changes in beliefs. But I have confidence that changes and motions towards more equality will continue.” —Ellie Black

“In No Stopping Us Now, the young girl who wants to play basketball but can’t exemplifies the exact need for Title IX, starting in youth sports and continuing beyond. The book also highlights how legal changes don’t always correlate to societal changes in beliefs. But I have confidence that changes and motions towards more equality will continue.” —Ellie Black

“In No Stopping Us Now, the young girl who wants to play basketball but can’t exemplifies the exact need for Title IX, starting in youth sports. The book showcases the major struggle of breaking into a male space where you have to fight against deeply held ideals and break societal norms to make change for the better.” —Lauren Dove