Taking the Lead
Taking the Lead
Mom is asleep when I get home from school. She is still getting used to the night shift at her new job. She’s worked as a forklift operator for about a month. This job pays better than her other jobs have. We both hope that means we won’t have to move again to find a cheaper apartment. I’ve already changed schools six times. Somewhere in there, I stopped trying to make friends. It always felt like a waste of time. So I’ve learned to rely on myself.
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.
Janet Johnson, a retired librarian, used to teach Children’s Literature for the Library Technician Program at Red River College in Winnipeg, Manitoba.