As in Reynoldss two previous novels in the Track series (Ghost, rev. 11/16; Patina, rev. 11/17), sports arent really the point here--certainly not for Sunny, the teams best miler, who decides, just as hes about to win a race, that he doesnt want to be a runner and, in fact, never did. Coachs subsequent suggestion that he take up the discus instead is cannily reflected in the novels structure, a series of diary entries that each spin around another incident or memory, cumulatively revealing the tragic origins of Sunnys track career. The incantatory leanings of the prose sometimes tend toward repetitiveness, but the slow build of the story allows Sunnys strengths and vulnerabilities to gain him a place in our hearts. When he finally throws the discus in competition--on the last page, no less--we are completely with him. roger Sutton (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

*Starred Review* Sunny is one of the best runners you have ever seen. But the problem, see, is that he doesn't want to run. His mother was a runner, and after she died giving birth to him, his father Darryl decided that Sunny would run to carry on the legacy. But if you carry anything long enough, you begin to stagger under its weight. What Sunny really wants to do is dance. He and his homeschool teacher a colored-haired, tattooed woman named Aurelia dance for the cancer ward patrons at a local hospital. Coach even lets him quit running and starts giving him one-on-one discus lessons, which feels a lot like dancing. But Darryl thinks Sunny is betraying his mother's memory. Reynolds again uses his entrancing grasp of voice to pull readers into the heartbreaking world of the Track series. Sunny's voice is deliberately more scattered and onomatopoetic than the series' prior narrators, and there's a musicality to the text, with words like tickboom and hunger-growl. As with Ghost (2016) and Patina (2017), this book functions equally well as a standalone in this case, a boy with rhythm flowing deeply through his bones while also continuing to deepen the world of this inner-city middle-school track team. This series continues to provide beautiful opportunities for discussion about viewpoint, privilege, loss, diversity of experience, and exactly how much we don't know about those around us. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Reynolds is on a run almost unparalleled in YA, and this standout series will continue to be in demand.--Worthington, Becca Copyright 2018 Booklist

Sunny Lancaster is a home-schooled almost-13-year-old torn between duty to run and passion for dance in the latest compulsively readable installment of Reynolds' lauded Track series.On the surface, African-American Sunny appears to have a wealthy, comfortable life that his less-fortunate teammates on the Defenders cannot help but envy. Privilege, however, cannot hide pain, and Sunny feels smothered by guilt over his mother's death immediately after his birth and crushed beneath the weight of his father's expectations for him to become the marathon runner that his beloved mother no longer can be. Once again, Reynolds cements his reputation as a distinguished chronicler of the adolescent condition by presenting readers with a winsome-yet-complex character whose voice feels as fresh as it is distinctive, spontaneously breaking out into onomatopoeic riffs that underscore his sense of music and rhythm. Living in an empty house with colorless walls and unfulfilled familial expectations cannot dim the effervescent nature of a protagonist who names his diary to make it feel more personal, employs charts and graphs to help him find the bravery to forge his own path as a discus-throwing dancer, and finds artistic inspiration in the musical West Side Story. Defenders introduced in earlier novels receive scant treatment, but new characters, such as Sunny's blue-haired teacher/dance instructor, Aurelia, are vibrant and three-dimensional. Main characters' races are not explicitly mentioned, implying a black default.Another literary pacesetter that will leave Reynolds' readers wanting more. (Fiction. 10-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.