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Ghost

Book #1 of Track
Read by Guy Lockard
LIST PRICE $14.99

About The Book

A National Book Award Finalist for Young People’s Literature
Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read


Ghost wants to be the fastest sprinter on his elite middle school track team, but his past is slowing him down in this first electrifying novel of the acclaimed Track series from Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe Award–winning author Jason Reynolds.

Ghost. Lu. Patina. Sunny. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds with personalities that are explosive when they clash. But they are also four kids chosen for an elite middle school track team—a team that could qualify them for the Junior Olympics if they can get their acts together. They all have a lot to lose, but they also have a lot to prove, not only to each other, but to themselves.

Running. That’s all Ghost (real name Castle Cranshaw) has ever known. But Ghost has been running for the wrong reasons—it all started with running away from his father, who, when Ghost was a very little boy, chased him and his mother through their apartment, then down the street, with a loaded gun, aiming to kill. Since then, Ghost has been the one causing problems—and running away from them—until he meets Coach, an ex-Olympic Medalist who sees something in Ghost: crazy natural talent. If Ghost can stay on track, literally and figuratively, he could be the best sprinter in the city. Can Ghost harness his raw talent for speed, or will his past finally catch up to him?

About The Author

Photograph (c) Adedayo "Dayo" Kosoko

Jason Reynolds is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a Newbery Award Honoree, a Printz Award Honoree, a two-time National Book Award finalist, a Kirkus Award winner, a UK Carnegie Medal winner, a two-time Walter Dean Myers Award winner, an NAACP Image Award Winner, an Odyssey Award Winner and two-time honoree, and the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King honors and the Margaret A. Edwards Award. He was also the 2020–2022 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. His many books include All American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely); When I Was the GreatestThe Boy in the Black SuitStampedAs Brave as YouFor Every One; the Track series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu); Look Both WaysStuntboy, in the MeantimeAin’t Burned All the Bright (recipient of the Caldecott Honor) and My Name Is Jason. Mine Too. (both cowritten with Jason Griffin); and Long Way Down, which received a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, and a Coretta Scott King Honor. His debut picture book, There Was a Party for Langston, won a Caldecott Honor and a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. He lives in Washington, DC. You can find his ramblings at JasonWritesBooks.com.

About The Reader

Product Details

Awards and Honors

  • National Book Award Finalist
  • ALA Notable Children's Books
  • CCBC Choices (Cooperative Children's Book Council)
  • ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
  • William Allen White Children's Book Award (KS)
  • Bank Street Best Books of the Year
  • William Allen White Children's Book Award Reading List (KS)
  • Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee (IN)
  • Louisiana Young Readers' Choice Award Nominee
  • Grand Canyon Reader Award Nominee (AZ)
  • Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best
  • Maine Student Book Award Reading List
  • Nutmeg Book Award Nominee (CT)
  • Texas Lone Star Reading List
  • Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award Master List (IL)
  • Great Lakes Great Books Master List (MI)
  • Nene Award Nominee (HI)
  • Buckeye Children's Book Award Nominee (OH)
  • Kentucky Bluegrass Award
  • Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Master List (VT)
  • Massachusetts Children's Book Award Nominee
  • Black-Eyed Susan Book Award Nominee (MD)
  • Georgia Children's Book Award Finalist
  • Mark Twain Award Final Nominee (MO)
  • ALA Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults
  • South Carolina Picture Book Award
  • Nutmeg Book Award (CT)
  • Sasquatch Book Award Nominee (WA)
  • Cybils Award
  • ALA Margaret A. Edwards Award
  • ALA Notable Children's Recording
  • Odyssey Honor for Audio
  • Pennsylvania Reader's Choice Award Nominee
  • Amazing Audiobooks for YA
  • Wisconsin State Reading Association's Reading List
  • Golden Sower Award Nominee (NE)
  • NCTE Charlotte Huck Outstanding Fiction Award
  • Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Multicultural Books List
  • New York Public Library Best Books for Kids
  • South Dakota Children's Book Award Nominee
  • Sunshine State Young Readers Award, Grades 6-8 List (FL)
  • Minnesota Youth Reading Awards, Maud Hart Lovelace Honor Title
  • Oregon Reader's Choice Award
  • Virginia Readers'' Choice Award
  • North Carolina Young Adult Book Award

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More books from this author: Jason Reynolds

More books from this reader: Guy Lockard

More books in this series: Track