The Running Dream
The Running Dream (Schneider Family Book Award - Teen Book Winner)
The Running Dream
Wendelin Van Draanen
When Jessica is told she’ll never run again, she puts herself back together—and learns to dream bigger than ever before. The acclaimed author of Flipped delivers a powerful and healing story.   Jessica thinks her life is over when she loses a leg in a car accident. She’s not comforted by the news that she’ll be able to walk with the help of a prosthetic leg. Who cares about walking when you live to run?   As she struggles to cope, Jessica feels that she’s both in the spotlight and invisible. People who don’t know what to say act like she’s not there. Jessica’s embarrassed to realize that she’s done the same to a girl with CP named Rosa. A girl who is going to tutor her through all the math she’s missed. A girl who sees right into the heart of her.   With the support of family, friends, a coach, and her track teammates, Jessica may actually be able to run again. But that’s not enough for her now. She doesn’t just want to cross finish lines herself—she wants to take Rosa with her.   “Inspirational. The pace of Van Draanen’s prose matches Jessica’s at her swiftest. Readers will zoom through the book just as Jessica blazes around the track. A lively and lovely story.” —Kirkus Reviews

Book Details

Genre: 

  • Fiction
  • Sports

Age Level: 

  • 12 and up
Profile Picture

The Running Dream is about 16 year old Jessica, who loses her foot in an accident that occurs while returning from a track meet. This is especially devastating to Jessica, because running is her life. Without a foot, it is a struggle for her to relearn how to walk, let alone run again. Hope comes in the form of her track team and a math genius named Rosa who has cerebral palsy, and with their help the impossibility of living a normal life seems possible.

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