In this tender, gripping story from the award-winning author of Orbiting Jupiter, a boy starts out running on the track team and ends up running toward his future. When Jack's P.E. coach pairs him up with Jay Perkins for the cross-country team, neither of them is happy about it. Jack is grieving the loss of Joseph, his foster brother, and adjusting to his role as big brother to Jupiter, Joseph's orphaned daughter. Dealing with Jay Perkins-who was definitely no friend of Joseph's-is the last thing he wants to do. But as Jack's running grows stronger, so do his relationships with both Jay and Jupiter, and he starts to feel more like himself than he has since Joseph died. He's finding his stride . . . until Jupiter's grandparents decide to claim her as their own, and suddenly Jack's past and present smash together, threatening to dissolve both his newfound confidence and his friendships.

Gary D. Schmidt is the bestselling author of The Labors of Hercules Beal; Just Like That; National Book Award finalist Okay for Now; Pay Attention, Carter Jones; Orbiting Jupiter; the Newbery Honor and Printz Honor Book Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy; and the Newbery Honor Book The Wednesday Wars. He is also coauthor, with Ron Koertge, of Styx and Stones. He lives in rural Michigan.