Twelve-year-old Annie ponders the many rhythms of life the year that her mother becomes pregnant, her grandfather begins faltering, and her best friend (and running partner) becomes distant.

"Eleven-year-old Rain must adjust to a new normal after her brother dies and her family moves to New York City"--

Mia is excited about her first superspeed training class, but a bully on her relay team leads her to lose her shadow and, worse, to snap at her friends.

Aspiring to be the fastest sprinter on his elite middle school's track team, gifted runner Ghost finds his goal challenged by a tragic past with a violent father.

"Seventh-grader Joseph Friedman is friendless and puny, with ADD to boot. He spends most of his time avoiding the class bully and hiding out in the Resource Room. But the Resource Room teacher encourages (i.e., practically forces) him to join the school cross country team, and he meets Heather, a new student who's tough and athletic and refuses to be pushed around by anybody"--

Auma loves to run. In her small Kenyan village, she's a track star with big dreams. A track scholarship could allow her to attend high school and maybe even become a doctor. But a strange new sickness called AIDS is ravaging the village, and when her father becomes ill, Auma's family needs her help at home. Soon more people are getting sick even dying and no one knows why. Now Auma faces a difficult choice. Should she stay to support her struggling...

CJ is a runner--and when he's running, he's fast, free, and flying. It was Grandad who taught him to run, and who did a lot more, besides. Grandad always made sure things were in order around CJ's house, because his parents could not. CJ's parents are different, and because they do not have the tools to cope with certain elements of everyday life, it was Grandad who reviewed the water bill, saw to it that the electricity meter had funds, and kept...