A determined girl athlete deals with food insecurity in this upper middle grade coming-of-age story from author of The First Magnificent Summer, R.L. Toalson.
Running the 400-meter dash as the star of the girlâs track team is where Leta âLightningâ Laurel shines. Sheâs not popularâtormented for her smelly old track spikes with the super-glued soles that her mom canât afford to replaceâand she skips lunch every day rather than deal with being made fun of for being in the lower cost lunch program. But she has running, the one thing that makes her feel special.
Letaâs biggest inspiration is her elderly grandpa, Pop, who runs miles and miles every day even though heâs really old. He also helps out by bringing Leta and her mom fast food dinners because even Momâs two jobs isnât enough to always keep food in the pantry. Leta struggles to keep up with the demands of running on no fuel but seeing the way her mom only picks at the unhealthy food makes her think maybe she should do the sameâŚafter all, light is faster, right?
As Leta struggles with her top spot on the track team being challenged by a new girl at school, sheâs also sidelined by an injury to her foot from training too hard. She refuses to admit to anyone how much pain sheâs in with a big track meet coming up. After all, if she can win something, sheâll prove to everyone that she's not so forgettable after all.