Eighth grader Castle “Ghost” Cranshaw, the title character of Jason Reynolds’ new middle grade novel GHOST, is fast. As an African-American teenager growing up in the projects with a single mother who works around the clock, his ability to run has come in handy in getting him out of some bad situations --- especially the time he had to run for his life when his father tried to shoot him and his mother in a drunken rage. He never thought his natural speed would be of any other use to him until he saw a track and field team practicing on a local track and couldn’t help but think he could outrun everybody he saw out there. Ghost crashes their practice and proves he can run neck and neck with their fastest guys, and their coach does everything he can to recruit Ghost to the team.
There is more about the book that I don't remember. Sorry.