"Patina, or Patty, runs like a flash and was chosen for the Defenders "Patty" Jones is the fastest girl on the Defenders, an elite middle school track team. She runs for many reasons -- like to escape the taunts from the kids at her new school. She runs from the reason WHY she's not able to live with her "real" mom any more: her mom has The Sugar, and Patty is terrified that the disease that took her mom's legs will one day take her away forever....

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. Ghost has a crazy natural talent, but no formal training....

After hitting the track team star with a water balloon, Harry is given a choice-join the team or else.

When Ring Lake Middle School decides to host an Olympic Fest, Kyle is assigned to compete in the track and field throwing events--will practice make him good, or will he embarrass himself in front of everyone?

As a dedicated runner, a teenage boy has always managed to distance himself from other people until the experience of coaching one of his teammates on the track team gradually helps him see the value of giving and receiving.

Matthew, a young African American with asthma who dreams of becoming an Olympic runner like his hero, Jesse Owens, accompanies his journalist father to the 1936 Olympics in Germany.

When fourth-grade Katie turns into her unfair track coach, she gives all the members of the team a chance to compete, including the slowest runner in her class.

Sixth-grader Ronald "Cheesie" Mack, finds the best way to earn points against his older sister is to become popular, and decides to join the cross-country team, help his best friend run for class president, and ignore her attempts to embarrass him.

Ziggy does not do well on the school track and field day events, but he feels much better after his classmates recognize his drawing talent.

Ghost has a crazy natural talent, but no formal training. If he can stay on track, literally and figuratively, he could be the best sprinter in the city. But Ghost has been running for the wrong reasons, all starting 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,...