Jason Reynolds always manages to squeeze numerous topics into his books without making the narrative feel over crowded.

Like Cleary, Jason Reynolds clearly remembers what it was to be a kid — the private humiliations, the silliness, the outsized misconceptions, the way the tiniest bit of support can change a day. Think about the consequences Ghost faces as a result of his decision to steal a pair of running shoes. Then he’d shake up the seeds in his palm like dice, before throwing another bunch in his grill to chomp down on. Every other night he would become a different person, like he’d morph into someone crazy, but this one night my mother decided to finally fight back. He is still piecing things together and he carries a lot of anger, which leads him to challenge the fastest member of the track team and beat him in an unofficial race.The audiobook narrator Guy Lockard is superb, delivering authentic voices especially for Ghost and the coach. But when Ghost impulsively challenges an elite sprinter to a race—and wins—the Olympic medalist track coach sees he has something: crazy natural talent.

Jason Reynolds' dialogue and characters feel so real to me, and when the characters do things, even things I don't particularly like, as Ghost does at one point in this story, I follow along, knowing Reynolds will take me on an interesting journey. They all have a lot to lose, but they also have a lot to prove, not only to each other, but to themselves. This was just a pitch perfect middle grade / youngish YA book that was a total delight from start to finish.

But the craziest thing was, I felt like the shot—loudest sound I ever heard—made my legs move even faster. Then, one day, Ghost comes across a practice in the park and decides to race one of the sprinters, a decision that leads him to join Coach Brody’s elite track team: the Defenders. This is a generalization, but in my experience librarians really enjoy reading within their comfort zones. He soon discovers that the other newbies on the team and his new coach are pretty cool, and that he’s actually really into running. And She Could Not Find a Single Young Adult Fiction Book about a male-identified person of African Descent who runs.