"Patina, "Patty" Jones is the fastest girl on the Defenders track team. A newbie to the track team, Patty must learn to rely on her family and teammates as she tries to outrun her problems. She runs to show the kids that taunt her at her fancy new school that she's going to be someone some day. She runs for her fellow newbie teammates to make them proud. She runs to show her little sister Maddy how to be strong and brave. And she runs for her mother,...

Soon after his mother's death, Matt takes a job at a funeral home in his tough Brooklyn neighborhood and, while attending and assisting with funerals, begins to accept her death and his responsibilities as a man.

"Lu knows he can lead Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and the team to victory at the championships, but it might not be as easy as it seems. Suddenly, there are hurdles in Lu's way--literally and not-so-literally--and Lu needs to figure out, fast, what winning the gold really means"--