Reynolds, Jason Patina : Patty ain’t no Junk, 233 pgs. Atheneum Books for Young Readers (Simon & Schuster), 2017. $16.99. Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: G; Violence: G.
Patina attends a fancy charter school, it’s close to where she lives with her aunt and uncle. He father died several years ago, and her mother’s diabetes has progressed to where she has had both legs amputated, so her uncle has taken over as guardian to Patty and her sister Maddy. Patty runs for the Defender’s track team - she is really fast and second place is not an option (on the track or in life) so when she finds herself part of a team both in school (group assignment) and on the track (4x800 relay) Patty starts to see that she can’t be totally in control of everything anymore.
Ghost (Track 1) and Patina (Track 2) are stand alone books in this series. Although reading Ghost isn’t necessary, I would recommend reading in order. I love the track training - how the coach taught the runners to work together to pass the baton in the relay was brilliant. Working together in a group is complicated, especially in Middle School - I like that this is addressed in different ways. I hope this series becomes popular. Reynolds is a great writer, and these are completely clean; perfect for a middle school audience.
MS - ESSENTIAL Lisa Librarian
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