book cover

Lu

by Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Selom Sunu

Interest age: 11 to 14
Reading age: 11+

Published by Knights Of, 2020

  • Around the world
  • Coming-of-age

About this book

Athletics star Lu is generally pretty sure of himself – who he is and what he’s good at. But there’s suddenly a lot of change in his life. The big end-of-season championships are looming; his parents have dropped the bombshell that they’re having another kid; Coach has got him running hurdles but, after an embarrassing fall, he doesn’t seem able to jump them anymore; and as some new things about his dad’s past are revealed, Lu’s faced with a lot of questions.

An incredibly real and relatable character, Lu is trying to figure out how to be himself as well as how to fit in. He’s got a good home but a lot of the families around him face lots of disadvantages, and his dad’s history of drug dealing – that he’s now trying to atone for – casts a shadow. Meanwhile, though the athletics team is like a family, like all families, not everyone always gets along. As Lu tries to find his pace again, can he get his head around the line between right and wrong, how easy (or not) it is to fix mistakes, and what being cool really means?

Although it’s the fourth title in the ‘Run’ series, Lu can be read as a standalone story. It’s an accessible story in a down-to-earth urban setting about the importance of taking that leap and believing in yourself.

About the author

Jason Reynolds is a New York Times bestselling author, a Newbery Award Honoree, a Printz Award Honoree, National Book Award Honoree, a Kirkus Award winner, a two time Walter Dean Myers Award winner, an NAACP Image Award Winner, and the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King honors. Reynolds was named the American Booksellers Association’s 2017 and 2018 spokesperson for Indies First, and served as the national spokesperson for the 2018 celebration of School Library Month in April 2018, sponsored by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL).

Jason’s many works of fiction include When I Was the Greatest, Boy in the Black Suit, All American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely), As Brave As You, For Every One, Miles Morales: Spider Man, the Run series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu), and Long Way Down, which received both a Newbery Honor and a Printz Honor. He is on faculty at Lesley University, for the Writing for Young People MFA Program and lives in Washington, DC. You can find his ramblings at JasonWritesBooks.com

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