Ghost

Ghost is the first of four books in Jason Reynolds’s Track series. Each novel follows a different member of the Defenders track team and examines different themes through specific track and field events like sprints, relays, throwing, and hurdles. Ghost introduces the team through Castle’s perspective, and each of the series’ protagonists plays a role in the story. In Chapter 8, they each share a secret about themselves, which becomes the root of each sequel in the series. Ghost also establishes threads that are present in the other books, such as teamwork, the struggle to fit in, and healing childhood trauma. Each novel is narrated from a first-person perspective, though Sunny is an epistolary novel, told in a series of diary entries spanning one week. This creates a sense of intimacy with each character while emphasizing how being a teenager can feel alienating, even when one is part of a team.

The second book, Patina, was published in 2017 and was Reynolds’s first book written from a young woman’s point of view. The protagonist, Patina “Patty” Jones, shares traits with Castle; she struggles to fit in at her mostly white private school, and she lives in a nontraditional home environment. Her father is dead, and she and her siblings live with their uncle because their birth mother can’t take care of them due to illness. The book’s focus on nontraditional family structures also highlights the outsized burdens that young girls often assume in their households. While Castle’s story focuses on his progress as a runner, Patty’s follows her transition from solo athlete to relay team member, emphasizing the role of community and friendship in healing and growth.

Like Chester and Patty, Sunny, the protagonist in Sunny (2018), has also lost a parent. Sunny’s internal conflict differs from his teammates, though: He has started writing a diary to work through his desire to quit the track team. While Patty connects with her father’s memory and mother’s disability through running, Sunny feels pressured by his father to compete. He prefers dance and other types of movement, and Coach provides his characteristic support by suggesting Sunny try other track and field events like throwing the discus. In the end, Sunny grows by trying new things and learning how to communicate honestly with his father.

The series ends with Lu (2018). Lu’s family structure differs from the other Track protagonists in that both of his parents are alive, and they are expecting another child. Lu stands out because of his albinism and deals with bullying from his peers and teasing from his teammates. A major thread in this book is drug use and how it affects communities and individuals—nearly every teammate’s life has been touched by drugs in some way. As Lu deals with the yips—he must overcome his fear of stumbling over literal hurdles—he and the other characters also overcome the metaphorical hurdles separating them. As the series concludes, they are finally a unified team.