RIDE OF YOUR LIFE: A Race Car Driver's Journey

One of the first women to earn national recognition as a race-car driver, St. James has written an ode to speed, mechanics and persistence that does not focus simply on that fact. From the time she was a girl, St. James found her way to racing tracks and garages early and often. Her first experience driving at the Palm Beach International Raceway ended in humiliation when her car spun out of control and sank in nearby wetlands. But the rookie kept racing, and by the end of the season she had earned the respect of her peers. Even readers who have no interest in auto racing will be sparked by St. James's simple, genuine descriptions of the experience ("I don't expect anyone who has never driven a race car to understand it completely, but the sky is always bluer, the grass a little greener, and the air a little fresher after you've driven...."). St. James's pursuit of corporate sponsorship (getting a car into a major event like the Indy 500 can cost hundreds of thousands—even millions—of dollars) is a study in tenacity, confidence and business acumen. With chapter titles such as "Making It Happen" and "You Never Know Till You Ask," the book is intended to inspire, and succeeds. St. James doesn't make an issue of gender beyond citing occasions when others have. At the Indy 2000, when St. James and Sarah Fisher crashed into one another, the event took on historical significance because it was the first time more than one woman had competed in the event. What are the personal and professional ramifications of such accidents? Readers are left only with the unsatisfying "Sarah and I were left to lick our wounds and ponder all the things that might have been." Despite such flat spots, St. James's story, spiked with plenty of folksy advice, makes for an energetic, encouraging rally. (May)

Forecast:When you look into NASCAR stands, you'll see just as many women as men. Tapping into yet another aspect of this popular sport, expect good sales—and St. James's appearance on the Today show will give it an extra methanol boost.