The Girls

An All-American Town, a Predatory Doctor, and the Untold Story of the Gymnasts Who Brought Him Down

By: Abigail Pesta

Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers

The inside story of how serial predator Larry Nassar got away with abusing hundreds of gymnasts for decades - and how a team of brave women banded together to bring him down.

We think of Larry Nassar as the despicable sexual predator of Olympic gymnasts - but there is an astonishing, untold story. For decades, in a small-town gym in Michigan, he honed his manipulations on generations of aspiring gymnasts. Kids from the neighborhood. Girls with hopes of a college scholarship. Athletes and parents with a dream. In The Girls, these brave women for the first time describe Nassar's increasingly bold predations through the years, recount their warning calls unheeded, and demonstrate their resiliency in the face of a nightmare.

The Girls is a profound exploration of trust, ambition, betrayal, and self-discovery. Award-winning journalist Abigail Pesta unveils this deeply reported narrative at a time when the nation is wrestling with the implications of the MeToo movement. How do the women who grew up with Nassar reconcile the monster in the news with the man they once trusted? In The Girls, we learn that their answers to that wrenching question are as rich, insightful, and varied as the human experience itself.

©2019 Abigail Pesta (P)2019 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Abigail Pesta's The Girls is a riveting, angering, un-put-down-able and ultimately triumphant story. With new information at every turn, this impeccably reported, eloquent narrative provides stunning insights into the saga of the most prolific sexual predator in sports history. An unforgettable book, which only a woman could write with the nuance, depth, and compassion it deserves." (Sheila Weller, author of Girls Like Us and The News Sorority)

"Like no one else writing today, Abigail Pesta penetrates deep into the anguish of people, particularly women, who are caught in seemingly hopeless situations, when nobody will listen to them. In The Girls, Pesta details the incredible untold stories of how dozens of teenage gymnasts, after decades of abuse by a trusted doctor, finally break through his small army of powerful protectors and send him to jail for at least one hundred years." (Paul Steiger, former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal and founding editor of ProPublica)

"Deeply personal, powerful, and filled with stunning new insights into the Nassar scandal, this gripping narrative grabs you by the heart and leaves you cheering for these courageous women who felled a beast." (Joanna Coles, executive producer of The Bold Type, author of Love Rules, and director, Snap)

gtreat read!

this was captivating right from the beginning. however, it was hard listening to the abuse that took place and difficult to listen to the end of the book. (the dr. obviously is a very sick man.)
my heart goes out to each of these girls. my prayers for healing from the emotional pain and sexual abuse.

may parents everywhere be on the alert for predators lurking in the most unlikely places. may we, as a society, prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.

Amazing Story

So moving, inspiring and informative. I can now move forward with my daughter, in this sport, with their strength-warnings-and courage.

Athletes aren’t disposable.

I started coaching gymnastics at the age of 16. With Covid, a primary immunodeficiency, and turning 60, I’ve retired from coaching. I’ve always been at smaller gyms with fewer girls on team where larger gyms would have an entire team of Level 9s, we would have 1-2. Never have I ever been so strict as to push a girl to work with an injury or use conditioning as punishment. Conditioning is a part of training to be respected. With experience, you can tell if a girl is scared vs injured and address it. You can’t take away from her teammates, but if something hurts and they don’t want to do it, give them ice and a plan.
I’ve been at meets where I could not believe what was coming out of the mouths of some coaches or how “rough” they could be. They were in it to win it, and only 1st place was good enough.
I had no idea how “mean” Geddart was to his gymnasts and now I know why he was being investigated. It’s sad he committed suicide, but he would have been joining Nassar in prison.
USAG seems to have gone the other way to make up for decades of mistakes. Guilty until proven innocent, suspending first, suspending for something that happened 30-40 years ago with the me too movement. You don’t know what is true anymore. There are jobs within the organization nobody wants!
The kids we coach are in it to be the best they can be. They have goals we can help them reach. I’ve told them I can make you as good as you want to be. They are individuals and need to be treated as such. I’ve seen a lot of gym hopping over the years. Parents want the best when they know their child has a chance at the big times. The girls are willing to do anything to be as good as the best at their gym. They want to please their coaches. This sets up a situation of overtraining, injury, and burnout. Build them up. Don’t tear them down.
Seems like making the national team and staying on it, young girls were subjected to questionable tactics, all because it produced medals. If you didn’t keep up, there were plenty of other talented girls to take your place. Our kids aren’t disposable.

A must read!!

This ugly tragedy played out in my hone town. It is told in a poignant and matter of fact way, that really bring the massive scope of the Nassar scandal down to a personal level. I hope all will read, and learn, from this. Very well written.

A Tragic Tale for so many

The Girls is the tragic tale of so many girls that were prey to a monster doctor. So much of this story is so hard to hear, but it is so well written. As a mom to three girls, one of which is in competitive dancing at age 7, I could relate to the parents involved in the Larry Nassar case. The courage of these girls, that spoke up and told their story to help protect future generations must be applauded. This should, perhaps, be required reading for all parents.

great but heart wrenching

trigger if you're an abuse survivor , be prepared. The stories are very powerful.

Good but redundant and tedious at times

It’s a hard story to tell and this book honors the story of the victims. Unfortunately, the story of the victims is the same story over and over because Nassar figured out what worked and did it with each victim. The author’s style of introducing a victim’s story and then telling you she will finish it later gets a bit tedious. She interviews 25 victims. The number of stories and the jumping between them makes it hard to follow at times. It is great that this was a place to give a voice to the victims that didn’t have to big names so that their stories could be heard also.

Good but…

The book was good, but the author has a habit of adding things like ‘as we’ll hear later when we return to her story’ which were not only unnecessary but very distracting after the first few times.

Everyone Should Read

Seriously disturbing that the advise was this rampant and severe and NO ONE would listen to the girls.

Awesome!

This book told the story of a group of amazing women survivors who overcame a tragic event. It was well written, and I would recommend this book.