I got this book from a local Salvation Army thrift shop. It's another of Creech's youthful-protagonist story-in-poem-form books, this one focusing on several major themes: friendship, childbirth, aging, and more. The spunky protagonist has a marvelous scene in which she faces down the well-intentioned but tone-deaf athletic coach who thinks that, since the girl loves to run, she should be glad to join the school track team. But our heroine loves to run for herself and by herself, and isn't interested in training, winning or losing, or wearing shoes {wry grin} - and is clever enough to know that the best way to shut down the oblivious coach after several attempts at "not interested" are ignored is to offer "I'll think about it". Nice exercise in boundary-setting under awkward circumstances!

Other aspects include her worries over her mother's health during pregnancy, and fears for her grandfather who isn't doing too well. And her best friend, who DOES want to be a competitive runner, seems stand-offish and unhappy with her... So much going on in such a slim book!

I left this book in the (slanting and a bit rickety) LFL in front of the Boys and Girls Club in Lowell; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in MA here.]

*** Released for the 2019 One-Word Title release challenge. ***