Taking the Lead

Taking the Lead, a realistic novel about competitive running in a junior high school, is a short chapter book, part of a series on sports books written with reluctant readers in mind. In this story, Jonas learns about sportsmanship and empathy for a disabled boy his own age. Jonas is a driven athlete with a passion for running and little else. When the reader is introduced to Jonas, he is the captain of his running team, but he loses his position after taking out his anger at not winning first place in a relay race. After Jonas has a fight with one of his team members, the coach takes away his place as the captain, and he is sent to see the principal. She assigns Jonas to do volunteer work involving the training of a disabled boy his own age, and Jonas must do it if he wants to run competitively at the next track and field meet. In three weeks time, Darien, the disabled student, wants to take part in the Summer Solstice Run. After Jonas works with Darien, he learns how to give him directions on running the course, and he gradually comes to realize Darien’s reasons behind taking on this challenge.

The writer of this book is a runner, herself, and so the descriptions of each run in the book are authentic. The main character learns about sportsmanship through the experience of training the disabled Darien. Also, Jonas’ character is developed skillfully through more dialogue than description and through Jonas’ thoughts.

Taking the Lead is enjoyable even though I am not familiar with sports stories. It is fast paced and believable and would be of special interest to students, boys in particular, who find reading larger novels to be a chore.

The publisher has also prepared a resource guide for teachers to accompany Taking the Lead.