Running Through It

by Lorie Scarfarotti

Overview

Over the course of a week, thirteen-year-old Track&Field runner, Josie Tomaselli, confronts multiple challenges with humour, confusion, fear, "lady balls," and the inspiration of her pre-race music playlist. As the big race approaches, she's missing the support of her father, who is dying of cancer. While at first she refuses to acknowledge the possibility of losing him, in the end she rallies to face the situation and find a way to say goodbye to her dad.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780889957060
Publisher:	Red Deer Press
Publication date:	09/15/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	202
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Running Through It is Lorie Scarfarotti's debut novel. She lives in Toronto with her husband, three children and puppy, Rio.

Editorial Reviews

"A sensitively told story about parental illness interwoven with meaningful friendship and sports themes."
— Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2022-08-31
Eighth grader Josie Tomaselli is a runner, spurred on by her dad, who is now hospitalized.

Her coach, best friends, mom, and younger brother, Lucas, are also strong supporters. Josie’s parents are amicably divorced, and her family life is pretty good. Josie is not always confident, but she gets along well with outgoing Lucas. She’s starting to think about boys and gets drunk at a local fair with her friends. Always on her phone, Josie is attached to her special running playlist—her dad’s inspiration (the chapter headings reference the song titles). Nervous before every race, she depends on her lucky shorts, her “fast hair” (the French braids her mom gives her), her dad’s encouraging text messages, and her friends’ urging her to have “lady balls” to get through. At the beginning of the week covered in the book, Josie wins a race, finally getting to advance to the city finals. Running in the park, she meets the woman who starts the school races: Aurora Osborne, a former Olympian whose locs may cue her as Black in the otherwise predominantly White cast, gives Josie encouragement and recommends special drills. This approachable debut about contemporary middle school life deals honestly with Josie’s anxiety about her own abilities and her dad’s recurring lung cancer. There are occasional references to her Italian heritage, mostly centered around food.

A sensitively told story about parental illness interwoven with meaningful friendship and sports themes. (author interview) (Fiction. 12-14)

Kirkus Reviews