"Seventh-grader Joseph Friedman is friendless and puny, with ADD to boot. He spends most of his time avoiding the class bully and hiding out in the Resource Room. But the Resource Room teacher encourages (i.e., practically forces) him to join the school cross country team, and he meets Heather, a new student who's tough and athletic and refuses to be pushed around by anybody"--

When a school bus accident leaves sixteen-year-old Jessica an amputee, she returns to school with a prosthetic limb and her track team finds a wonderful way to help rekindle her dream of running again.

"Patina, or Patty, runs like a flash and was chosen for the Defenders "Patty" Jones is the fastest girl on the Defenders, an elite middle school track team. She runs for many reasons -- like to escape the taunts from the kids at her new school. She runs from the reason WHY she's not able to live with her "real" mom any more: her mom has The Sugar, and Patty is terrified that the disease that took her mom's legs will one day take her away forever....

Sixteen-year-old Leo Coughlin's life is increasingly stressful because his autistic older brother Caleb's behavior is becoming more bizarre and even violent, and their parents' marriage is falling apart--but Leo finds an escape in long distance running, and in two new friends: Curtis, himself a potential state champion who teaches him the strategy of running, and Mary, his would-be girlfriend.

A day at the park. A ride on Daddy's back. Run, Daddy! Faster! Faster! How fast can Daddy go? Faster than a dog? A horse? How about a cheetah? Must his feet even touch the ground? Leslie Patricelli reprises the duo from Higher! Higher! in another humorous riff on a favorite pastime - a laugh-out-loud-funny tale of few words about doting dads and high-energy kids whose imaginations know no bounds.

When AIDS devastates thirteen-year-old Auma's village in Kenya during the 1980s, Auma must choose between staying to help her family and working toward a track scholarship that will take her away from home.

In the summer before high school, Tessa's decision to play football, instead of running cross-country, affects her blossoming romance with football prospect Caleb, her relationship with best friends Marina and Lexie, who are counting on Tessa to try out for cross-country, and her home life with her politically ambitious mother.

Gianna has less than one week to complete her leaf project if she wants to compete in the upcoming cross-country sectionals, but issues like procrastination, disorganization--and her grandmother's declining health--seem destined to keep her from finishing.

Finkelhopper Frog's jogging style and wild jogging suit meet with criticism until he runs into Ruby Rabbit.

Alice Evelyn Davis, seventeen, has generally gotten all she wants from life but when her college of choice rejects her, problems with her best friend arise, and she faces an unexpected loss, her new-found interest in running helps get her through.