Fearless!

Taking place between the first day of track practice through the first track meet, Fearless! Finding Your Place on the Field takes you inside the classrooms, halls, locker room and track of a drama-filled middle school for a look inside the world's oldest sport.

Fearless! Finding Your Place on the Field is a novel by literacy advocate, award-winning poet, best-selling children's book author, and former middle school teacher and track coach, Linda Rittenhouse. Dedicated to her student athletes, the author's 20 years of insights about adolescents show on every page.

Thirteen-year-old Noah Martin holds strong views about how the world works. With few self-expectations, a resentment of classmates with "perfect" lives, and a cocky attitude that earns him few friends, Noah has been biding his time until track season. He is sure that he can dominate in sprints and the long jump, where athletes attain top speed over a short distance before hurling themselves through the air over a pit of sand.

Starting with the the first day of track practice, Noah steps into a world that challenges many of his beliefs. What happens when Noah discovers that he may need to re-think some of his closely held "truths," and that people who may have his back can wear unlikely disguises?

Although Fearless! has strong female characters, the character development of the male protagonist takes center stage. This is a fast-paced story boys will enjoy reading as much as girls. As readers follow the main character's coming of age, there are subtle emotional intelligence lessons embedded throughout the story. If you're looking for a book to hold the interest of a teenage reluctant reader, Fearless! Finding Your Place on the Field is an excellent choice.

5 1/4" X 8" 184-pages