Book Descriptions
for Patina by Jason Reynolds
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Patina lives with her white aunt and African American uncle, who’ve adopted Patina and her younger sister. Patina’s dad died when she was younger, and her mom’s health has made it impossible for her to care for Patina and her sister, although she’s still very much a part of their lives. Patina has recently started attending a private school, and feels no connection to the other girls in her class, who are all white and upper class. She’s much more comfortable with the three other African American girls on her 4 x 800 relay track team, but both social groups require careful navigation and complex cultural competence. Patina slowly gets to know one of her classmates while working on a school project with three other girls. Finding a way for their group to work together both parallels and contrasts the teamwork she is learning on the track team, where she’s discovering that there is a middle ground between holding out and giving in that can be a sweet spot of synchronicity. There’s a great deal of depth and heart in this appealing, often humorous, story about the day-to-day life of an African American girl. Fans of Ghost will appreciate encountering Ghost and other members of the track team, here serving in secondary roles as Patina’s life takes center stage. (Ages 8-12)
CCBC Choices 2018. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2018. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
A New York Times Notable Children’s Book
A newbie to the track team, Patina must learn to rely on her teammates as she tries to outrun her personal demons in this follow-up to the National Book Award finalist Ghost by New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds.
Ghost. Lu. Patina. Sunny. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds with personalities that are explosive when they clash. But they are also four kids chosen for an elite middle school track team—a team that could qualify them for the Junior Olympics if they can get their acts together. They all have a lot to lose, but they also have a lot to prove, not only to each other, but to themselves.
Patina, or Patty, runs like a flash. She runs for many reasons—to escape the taunts from the kids at the fancy-schmancy new school she’s been sent to since she and her little sister had to stop living with their mom. 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. So Patty’s also running for her mom, who can’t. But can you ever really run away from any of this? As the stress builds up, it’s building up a pretty bad attitude as well. Coach won’t tolerate bad attitude. No day, no way. And now he wants Patty to run relay…where you have to depend on other people? How’s she going to do THAT?
A newbie to the track team, Patina must learn to rely on her teammates as she tries to outrun her personal demons in this follow-up to the National Book Award finalist Ghost by New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds.
Ghost. Lu. Patina. Sunny. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds with personalities that are explosive when they clash. But they are also four kids chosen for an elite middle school track team—a team that could qualify them for the Junior Olympics if they can get their acts together. They all have a lot to lose, but they also have a lot to prove, not only to each other, but to themselves.
Patina, or Patty, runs like a flash. She runs for many reasons—to escape the taunts from the kids at the fancy-schmancy new school she’s been sent to since she and her little sister had to stop living with their mom. 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. So Patty’s also running for her mom, who can’t. But can you ever really run away from any of this? As the stress builds up, it’s building up a pretty bad attitude as well. Coach won’t tolerate bad attitude. No day, no way. And now he wants Patty to run relay…where you have to depend on other people? How’s she going to do THAT?
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.