Run Toward Who You Want To Be

Last month, Trevor Noah interviewed Jason Reynolds on the Daily Show and even before I had read any of his books, I became a fan.  He talked about writing, reading, and young people in a powerful way and made a strong argument for the need to write books that would have spoken to him as a young teen growing up in the inner city.  I’ve been a follower of the We Need Diverse Books organization and without mentioning the hashtag, Reynolds made their argument with heart and humor.

In Ghost, Reynolds starts a four-book series about a group of middle school students on a city track team by focusing on Ghost, whose real name is Castle Cranshaw.  Ghost has never run on a team though he can run; it’s a skill he discovered a few years back when he and his mom had to flee their home and dash to the neighborhood corner store to escape the rage of his drunken and gun-brandishing father.  Though Ghost escaped the violence of his father, he cannot run fast enough to escape the memory of that night and it still causes him problems at home and at school.

One day, Ghost just happens to be waiting for the bus across from a track and he sees a bunch of kids his age practicing.  Ghost decides to challenge one of the runners, Lu, and the race is so close that the Coach is intrigued and offers Ghost a spot on the team.  At first, Ghost isn’t interested, saying that he is more into basketball, but Coach Brody sucks him in by suggesting that running track is great conditioning for the court.

Though he has lots of raw talent, Ghost soon discovers that running track is harder and requires more of him than he thought, but it’s even harder for him to stay out of trouble.  Reynolds creates a believable young teen who is a mix of bravado and innocence, wisdom and inexperience, as well as heart and heat.  Ghost makes some bad choices, but this is a book for middle school readers, so there are some father figures to help guide him to a better path.

This book was not written for me, a middle-aged white lady, but that’s precisely what I like about it and why I look forward to Book 2.