Running on Empty (Orca Sports)

Everyone expected Leon Kline, anchor for the 4x100 sprint relay, to secure Gilburn High's spot in the record books.

But a freak accident on the final stretch changes everything. Suddenly his future is gone. No more running, no scholarship, no college. But then he meets sassy and straight-talking Casey De Vries, and life doesn't look quite so bleak. She even gets him running again. He can't sprint anymore, but he can handle longer distances. As he gets to know Casey better, he realizes that something is not quite right. How can he help her if she won't tell him what’s going on?

This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for middle-grade readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read!

Sonya Spreen Bates is a Canadian writer living in South Australia. She grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, where she obtained a degree in linguistics from the University of Victoria. She then studied speech-language pathology at Dalhousie University and has spent many years working with children with communication disorders. Sonya writes for children and adults and has been published in Australia and New Zealand as well as Canada.