"I AM A RUNNER!" 11-year-old Ebonee Rose tells her diary. Indeed, this young middle-class African-American girl is passionate about running and eagerly training with her team for the upcoming All-City track meet. In this short work of fiction written and designed in diary form, Ebonee chronicles her competitive progress, her rivalry and tenuous friendship with team newcomer Queenie, a foster child in the neighborhood, and her knowledge of the many African-American women who have excelled in track and field throughout the 20th century. Sharon Bell Mathis offers an energetic protagonist whose pride, disappointments and dreams come alive through her diary entries and poems. Captioned photographs of many of the African-American athletes who inspire Ebonee add to the scrapbook feel of this upbeat volume. (Ages 8-11)

It is two weeks before the All-City Track Meet, and eleven-year-old Ebonee Rose is entered in four events. She puts in long hours of practice and collects her thoughts, dreams, and fears within the pages of her diary while counting the days until the meet. Ebonee Rose is nervous, but she remembers the words and deeds of her heroes, great women runners-Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Florence Griffith Joyner, Wilma Rudolph, and others. As the day of the meet nears, Ebonee Rose faces her worries and discovers the rewards of friendship.