I really enjoyed this book. I sat and read it in one setting. A GREAT storyline of heartbreak and tragedy. I love books in verse and this book did not disappoint.

Thank you to NetGalley, West 44 Books, Rosen Publishing Group, and Ann Malaspina for the opportunity to read Ghost Runner in exchange for an honest review.

Ghost Runner follows Essie, a teen whose twin brother died somewhat mysteriously. His body was found in the local river. Did he fall? Jump? Was it murder? While Essie and her family struggle with a disconnect after this loss, Essie does her best to take care of Nate's dog and do what Nate would want her to do.

She loves running, but never joined the track team because she didn't want to get in Nate's way. Now she is encouraged to join, because "that is what Nate would want," as it were. She gets some strange looks from the people who were Nate's friends, people who she thought would be friendly to her as well. why are they looking at her with nasty glares? And on top of everything, she loves photography, but track takes away a lot of her time.

To top things off, Essie thinks her vision is bad. She keeps seeing something that looks like her brother, running in the woods or alongside her. Twins have a special interconnection, so perhaps it really is him? Or maybe she just needs glasses.

This novel is an exploration of friendship, family, ambition, and loss. Essie strives to do what she loves, but has a hard time because of the legacy her brother left behind and not wanting to overshadow that, even though she enjoys running too. There is evidence of a broken family, when Essie's dad is lackadaisical and disinterested in anything, and her mom has left (hopefully temporarily). This makes the book have connections with some young readers, showing that they aren't the only ones who have lost a family member or have a dysfunctional family because of loss.

Yet another great novel-in-verse for young readers. Any teen will find enjoyment out of this one!

This book is a sad and tragic book about the loss of Nate, Essi's twin brother, and the truth about how he died. I liked how it was written as a collection of poems. The book is about grief, survivor's guilt, and moving on after the loss of a loved one. Each character was connected to Nate in a different way and thus, grieving in a different way. I found it insightful to show the various ways that grief affects a person and how it can be different for everyone.

Trigger warning: death & grief

Ghost Runner is a sad and full of grief collection of poems written as verse, dealing with the death of Nate, Essi's twin brother. The collection shows the sadness and pain felt by his family, how each of them blames themselves and others for what happened. At the same time, the collection deals with the continuation of life and the struggle for the truth of how Nate actually fell from the bridge. I like this way of storytelling and that the poems are short but say a lot.

Content warning for death and grief.

Beautifully and heartbreakingly done. So much emotion throughout this entire book. You could truly feel the grief and range of emotions experienced by the main character. The unexpected reveal toward the end was not something I expected, but the payoff felt rewarding. An important book for anyone dealing with loss.

Award-winning children's author Ann Malaspina writes about the environment, social justice, history, and current events in her picture books, chapter books, and YA and MG verse novels. She holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her newest HI-LO novel-in-verse is Ghost Runner.

For readers unaware, HI-LO books, short for high-interest, low-readability books, are key to cultivating reading skills and a love for literature in tweens. These engaging and relatable books are invaluable in sparking interest and enhancing literacy in middle schoolers. These books will have limited vocabulary and need to focus on a very specific target age range, so to capture a ghost story in such a limiting format is impressive. Malaspina creates a story of a younger twin, Essie, whose brother, Nate, died under mysterious circumstances. Guided only by her brother’s dog and the innate sense of companionship that twins have, Essie is determined to solve the secret of her brother’s death and avenge his ghost.

This book absolutely works for the targets it has to hit. The language is simple and direct, and the verse uses some of the tools of prosody to create tension but also isn’t too ornate to scare off young readers. Older readers might enjoy this tale, but it’s very much centered on a YA/tween audience. For those readers, this would be an engaging tale of justice, revenge, and forgiveness, and a way for them to dabble in horror without being too scared off.