He was seventeen years old at the time. I was born when he was thirty-three, and though he played wheelchair basketball and tennis, I never knew my dad as an athlete. This book felt very personal to me. I felt like I could glimpse in a small way what that must be like for him. To lose the ability to stand, let alone walk and run.
Jessica, a track star, loses the lower half of her leg in a bus crash. Van Draanen does such a good job of keeping this book positive, dealing realistically with all of the problems, and showing how Jessica's perspective on life changes. It isn't melodramatic, it is sweet. And there is Romance!!! Which is essential. Van Draanen did lots of research for this book, and it shows. Everything, including the fitting of her prosthetic leg feels realistic. And there is something about people who have a real passion for something, even when it's running, which feels like an impossible passion to running-adverse me.
Here's a link to the book trailer on Amazon (Book trailers are like movie trailers, in case you didn't know :)
If this doesn't work, just enter The Running Dream on Amazon's main page and scroll down for the book trailer.
Definitely worth reading!
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