Reynolds rounds out his “Track” series with books focusing on the characters of Sunny and Lu, members of same elite track team as the main characters in Ghost and Patina. In Sunny, reliable miler Sunny decides he’s done with that race. He felt pressure from his dad to run it as a tribute to Sunny’s mom, a former marathoner who died after giving birth to him 13 years before. That’s a hard truth to live with, but even though he always wins, Sunny finds no joy in running the mile. What he really wants to do is dance, and in a story told through Sunny’s diary entries, bursts of onomatopoeia reflect his love of rhythm and movement. Home-schooled, Sunny has a wonderful tutor in vibrant Aurelia, but there is little connection between Sunny and his distant dad. But while the Defender’s coach works at turning Sunny into a discus thrower, an event that relies on rhythm and timing, Sunny and his dad are gradually moving toward new and deeper emotional honesty. In Lu, Lu(cas) is adjusting to big news: His mom is pregnant. As he considers what it will mean to be a big brother, he learns something upsetting about his dad, a former drug dealer, involving the Defenders’ beloved coach. On the track, Lu and his co- captain are at odds, while Lu’s new event—hurdles—is vexing him: Every time he approaches a hurdle, he freezes. It isn’t until Coach takes advantage of Lu’s poor eyesight—a side effect of his albinism—and asks him to run essentially blind that Lu begins to soar, learning to trust himself. The two books continue to build on the relationship among the four title characters, all of who are African American, while developing the individual stories of Sunny and Lu and their immediate families. The richly developed, credible secondary characters further emphasize the importance of connection and family—both blood and formed—forgiveness, and deciding what really matters. (Ages 9–13)

Sunny tries to shine despite his troubled past in this third novel in the critically acclaimed Track series from National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds.

Ghost. Patina. Sunny. Lu. 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 take them to the state championships. They all have a lot to lose, but they all have a lot to prove, not only to each other, but to themselves. Sunny is the main character in this novel, the third of four books in Jason Reynold’s electrifying middle grade series.

Sunny is just that—sunny. Always ready with a goofy smile and something nice to say, Sunny is the chillest dude on the Defenders team. But his life hasn’t always been sun beamy-bright. You see, Sunny is a murderer. Or at least he thinks of himself that way. His mother died giving birth to him, and based on how Sunny’s dad treats him—ignoring him, making Sunny call him Darryl, never “Dad”—it’s no wonder Sunny thinks he’s to blame. It seems the only thing Sunny can do right in his dad’s eyes is win first place ribbons running the mile, just like his mom did. But Sunny doesn’t like running, never has. So he stops. Right in the middle of a race.

With his relationship with his dad now worse than ever, the last thing Sunny wants to do is leave the other newbies—his only friends—behind. But you can’t be on a track team and not run. So Coach asks Sunny what he wants to do. Sunny’s answer? Dance. Yes, dance. But you also can’t be on a track team and dance. Then, in a stroke of genius only Jason Reynolds can conceive, Sunny discovers a track event that encompasses the hard beats of hip-hop, the precision of ballet, and the showmanship of dance as a whole: the discus throw. But as he practices for this new event, can he let go of everything that’s been eating him up inside?