Ghost, Jason Reynolds
Realistic fiction
Ghost knows how to run.
But running isn’t a real sport, not something to be proud of – it’s just something he’s always had to do. Ghost is a kid who’s had to do a lot of running away. Now, basketball – that’s a real sport. Ghost wants to be a basketball player, but he doesn’t play – just watches the older boys out on the court.
He’s at the park watching one day when he sees a group of kids at track practice. One of them’s a real hot shot, in fancy running clothes and outrageously expensive sneakers. But Ghost knows he could beat that stuck-up kid, so he gets down from the bleachers and interrupts the team’s practice to race their star sprinter.
And Ghost wins! The team’s coach recruits Ghost, and for the first time, he feels like he has a purpose and peers who actually like him. It turns out that Ghost has an insane talent for running – but he also has a talent for getting in trouble. Ghost has spent his whole life running away from his past, but with the help of Coach and his new friends – and frenemies – on the track team, he’ll figure out how to run towards his future.