This is my least favorite of the Track series so far, but it's nothing against Sunny. I just wasn't the biggest fan of the diary formatting, since it made a lot of the action feel far away. I will say, though, Guy Lockard did a great job narrating passages that would have completely stumped me, turning line graphs and pie charts into an audio format. I didn't even realize that's what he was doing until I found a physical copy of the book and flipped through it.

I also enjoyed the ending blurbs narrated by Jason Reynolds and Guy Lockard, which talked about their friendship and their intertwining careers. At first, I thought that Lockard's style for narrating Sunny was strange, since I hadn't registered Sunny as a Weird Kid™. But then, I realized that this was Reynolds' intention, and now that I've started the fourth book, I can see Sunny's weirdness shining through. Before this book, I had just interpreted him as shy, emotional, and withdrawn.

It was nice getting an additional layer to Sunny's character through this book, and I like how his story arc involves following his own heart rather than the expectations laid out for him by his parents. I was right about his absent mom having a huge presence in this book, and I think that Sunny's inner conflicts on the matter were very well done.

Poor Sunny! This book had me yearning to give this boy the biggest hug. Between the death of his mother when he was born, not going to school with other kids his own age, his father who doesn’t show any concern for his well-being it was just too much. I was happy that Sunny found dance and discus, as well as his voice.

Do yourself a favor and listen to this on audiobook.

This is the 3rd book in the Track series. Each book focuses on a different member of the team. We've gotten to know Ghost and Patty in the first two books. Now we get to know more about Sunny.

Sunny has always run, and won, the mile. But he's done. He doesn't even really like running. But his mom liked running and she died giving birth to him. And his dad has always told him he has to run for his mom. But what Sunny really wants to do is dance.

These books are written for younger readers and they are all so sweet and yet poignant. These children have lives and experiences that are so different from mine. And I love getting to know them and their journeys.

SCRIBD Audiobook

I read this book in a rush. Two sittings, because I had to go to sleep.

I don't even know how to describe this book, except that it rushed through me like a hurricane, carried me like a wave.

Reading this book felt so right. I don't think Jason Reynolds is neurodivergent himself, but he is one hell of a writer.

Not my favorite of the series but I love the different perspectives of the team. Hope there is one more novel for this series.

Love the Track series so much! This one about Sunny is written diary style and Sunny. Is. Weird. (His words!) Sunny is home schooled and he runs the mile for The Defenders. He doesn’t really have friends, his teacher takes good care of him and his dad is distant - because his mom died giving birth to Sunny.

The book deals with struggles on the team, learning how to help people, and figuring out it’s ok to be weird.

I'm skipping around a bit in this series...but I think it's okay in how the author has created these novels. They're about an urban track team and each book centers around a different member of the team. Sunny's story is really interesting...a boy whose mother dies giving birth to him and whose father wants him to carry on her legacy of distance running. The audiobook is really, really good and the conversation at the end with the author and the narrator is an awesome insight into both the writing and the reading of the novel.

Such lovable characters in this whole series. Highly recommend the audiobook!