Thank you so much to @simonandschuster for the advanced copy to review!

I LOVED that this was Coach’s story as a kid. It was so interesting seeing the adult characters we know and love from the rest of series as kids.

It was also SO AMAZING seeing little Otie and how he became the track dynamo he is, and how he carried on the torch with coaching. His life was so full of moments that his mom was doing her best to keep him from and there were some parts that really yanked on my heartstrings.

I loved this series. It is a perfect middle grade and I am SO GLAD that @jasonreynolds83 came back and finished it up with Coach.

Cannot recommend this series highly enough for the kiddos in your life, and adults could learn a thing or two as

Jason Reynolds does it again! Coach is book 5 in the Track series, but it is actually a prequel as it focuses on Coach's story -- and it would work well as a standalone. In this novel, set in the late 1980s or early 1990s, young Otie is obsessed with running track and Carl Lewis, Air Jordans, and Back to the Future. When his dad and his prized Air Jordans go missing, Otie's world turns upside down. I have already been recommending this to students and faculty and can't wait to get it into the hands of my students!

Thank you, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for the copy of Coach by Jason Reynolds. I haven’t read the Track series, but this book was fine as a standalone. I loved Otie, especially how he was obsessed with Back To The Future and Carl Lewis. I don’t spend a lot of time with young people, so Otie’s life was eye-opening, especially his accounts of school and other students. I think kids will relate to a lot of what Otie goes through and how he feels. I have to admit I didn’t expect to cry a little at the end. This is a beautifully written book, with characters that feel so real they leap off the page. I can’t wait to read the Track series now. 5 gold medal stars.

The 5️⃣ & final book in the Track MG series by @jasonreynolds83
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Before Ghost, Patina, Lu and Sunny, there was Coach. Little Otie Brody is twelve and the fastest sprinter on The Defenders track team. He obsessed with getting a new haircut, Carl Lewis and Back to the Future, but he becomes even more obsessed with the Air Jordans his dad gifts him. Now he’s sure he’ll not only run fast, but fly high in the long jump. One morning he wakes up to discover his new kicks are missing and his own father might be to blame.
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This series was already perfection. This was just the cherry on top of the sundae. There’s a reason why so many teachers across the world choose to read Ghost with their students either whole group, small group, book clubs or novel studies. Reynolds is able to write his characters right off the page, where they are like the everyday kids we see in our hallways and in our communities. Reading Coach’s story set in the 1980’s was so nostalgic and sucked me back into this world. I think a reread of the series is in order. Coach releases October 14.

CW: alcohol, addiction, physical violence, assault, blood, rehab, drug abuse, bullying, gangs, abandonment, drug dealing