Once upon a time I was ignorant of Jason Reynolds the freaking awesome author. I do not remember which of his works I read first, but the Track series are the ones that stuck with me. The first four books are the kids the Coach trains, with each book done in its own style. With book five, Coach, it continues the world of Track and Field, learning, growing, and has its own format. It is a good conclusion of the series by showing us the man behind the kids we’ve already read about and cheered for.
The book’s themes we’ve seen before: a kid in a not so great neighborhood is growing up. He needs to deal with violence, bullies, school, parents, expectations and the media influences (BUY AIR JORDANS and YOU TOO, can be Like Mike!). He must work with what his father wants versus what he wants, learn about the whys of the rules of the neighborhood and the rules of his mother. He must learn why people are the way they are, what it means to be a man, what it means to be a friend, and what it means to be safe. Along the way we get a bit of history about the Olympics, track and field people, and the times the book is set in.
And while we have seen it before, Reynolds puts his own mark on it and really makes the book pop. I knew the story, but was glued to the pages, wondering what was going to happen next. And though there are serious subjects (drugs, gangs) Reynolds handles things with love and respect. Any reader can be safe while reading it. Sure the younger or sensitive reader might find things a bit intense at times, but I found everything tastefully handled.
