The Runner — Cynthia Voigt

You can run from something, or toward something -- but can you do both at the same time? Book four in the Newbery-winning cycle from Cynthia Voigt.

Bullet Tillerman runs. He runs to escape the criticism of his harsh, unforgiving father. He runs to numb the pain of his mother's inability to express her love. He is the star of the school track team, but he isn't a team man and doesn't want to be. Bullet runs for himself.

So Bullet doesn't understand why he's been asked to train a new team member, and he's not looking forward to the task. But in coaching Tamer Shipp, Bullet learns some things about himself -- who he is, and who he can perhaps become.