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Ghost
(Track #1)
Author
Publication Date
August 30, 2016
Genre / Grade Band
Fiction / 6th − 8th
Language
English
Format
Chapter Book
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Description
A National Book Award Finalist for Young People’s Literature.
Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.
Ghost wants to be the fastest sprinter on his elite middle school track team, but his past is slowing him down in this first electrifying novel of the acclaimed Track series from Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award–winning author Jason Reynolds.
Ghost. Lu. Patina. Sunny. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds with personalities that are explosive when they clash. But they are also four kids chosen for an elite middle school track team—a team that could qualify them for the Junior Olympics if they can get their acts together. They all have a lot to lose, but they also have a lot to prove, not only to each other, but to themselves.
Running. That’s all Ghost (real name Castle Cranshaw) has ever known. But Ghost has been running for the wrong reasons—it all started with running away from his father, who, when Ghost was a very little boy, chased him and his mother through their apartment, then down the street, with a loaded gun, aiming to kill. Since then, Ghost has been the one causing problems—and running away from them—until he meets Coach, an ex-Olympic Medalist who sees something in Ghost: crazy natural talent. If Ghost can stay on track, literally and figuratively, he could be the best sprinter in the city. Can Ghost harness his raw talent for speed, or will his past finally catch up to him?
Publication date
August 30, 2016
Genre
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781481450157
Lexile Measure
730
Guided Reading Level
Y
Publisher
Atheneum Books
Series
Track
BISAC categories
JUV011010 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | United States - African-American
JUV039000 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | General
JUV032210 - Juvenile Fiction | Sports & Recreation | Track & Field
JUV039000 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | General
JUV032210 - Juvenile Fiction | Sports & Recreation | Track & Field
Library of Congress categories
Fathers and sons
JUVENILE FICTION / Social Issues / Friendship
Young adult fiction
Running
Self-realization
Emotional problems
Family violence
JUVENILE FICTION / Social Issues / Adolescenc
Coaches (Athletics)
JUVENILE FICTION / Sports & Recreation / Gene
Runners (Sports)
Emotional problems of children
Track and field
Sprinting
Attempted murder
Self-actualization (Psychology) in children
JUVENILE FICTION / Social Issues / Friendship
Young adult fiction
Running
Self-realization
Emotional problems
Family violence
JUVENILE FICTION / Social Issues / Adolescenc
Coaches (Athletics)
JUVENILE FICTION / Sports & Recreation / Gene
Runners (Sports)
Emotional problems of children
Track and field
Sprinting
Attempted murder
Self-actualization (Psychology) in children
Publishers Weekly
Starred Review
Reynolds (As Brave As You) uses a light hand to delve into topics that include gun violence, class disparity, and bullying in this compelling series opener. Seventh-grader Castle Cranshaw, nicknamed Ghost, knows nothing about track when a former Olympian recruits him as a sprinter for one of the city's youth teams. As far as Ghost is concerned, "whoever invented track got the whole gun means go thing right," something he learned firsthand when his father tried to shoot Ghost and his mother in their apartment three years prior. The trauma has had ripple effects on Ghost, including angry outbursts ("I was the boy.... with all the scream inside"), altercations at school, stealing, and lying. Joining the track team provides new friends, goals, and an opportunity for Ghost to move beyond his past. Ghost is a well-meaning, personable narrator whose intense struggles are balanced by a love of world records, sunflower seeds, and his mother. Coach's relationship with Ghost develops into a surrogate father-son scenario, adding substantial emotional resonance and humor to the mix. Ages 10-up. Agent: Elena Giovinazzo, Pippin Properties. (Aug.)
Copyright 2016 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
School Library Journal
Gr 5-9--At school, Castle "Ghost" Crenshaw is taunted about where he lives and what he wears. He also has an anger management problem, but the kid can run, really run. Supported by a loving mother and a tough but caring track-and-field coach, Ghost learns a few lessons about life and teamwork while reminding readers of the potential in everyone. Nuanced characters facing real-life problems delivered with the author's irresistible warmth and humor.
Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Jason Reynolds
Jason Reynolds is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a Newbery Award Honoree, a Printz Award Honoree, a two-time National Book Award finalist, a Kirkus Award winner, a two-time Walter Dean Myers Award winner, an NAACP Image Award Winner, and the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King honors. Reynolds is also the 2020-2021 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. His many books include When I Was the Greatest, The Boy in the Black Suit, All American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely), As Brave as You, For Every One, the Track series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu), Look Both Ways, and Long Way Down, which received a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, and a Coretta Scott King Honor. He lives in Washington, DC. You can find his ramblings at JasonWritesBooks.com.
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