The Running Dream

     Wendelin Van Draanen’s The Running Dream was an engrossing and emotional story. After losing her bottom part of her leg in a bus accident, a high schooler, Jessica Carlisle, was told by the doctors that she would never run again. Saddened by this news, Jessica refused to do anything and moped for several weeks. On top of all of this, the guy who crashed into the bus did not have insurance for the surgery on Jessica’s leg and her family can’t pay it off.  Her parents, little sister, and best friend, Fiona, encouraged her to do her physical therapy so she could return to the real world. After the accident, she met a friend named Rosa who had cerebral palsy. She was also a huge motivation for Jessica because she has a condition worse than her own and she is still a math genius. Will Jessica be able to return back to her usual routine, or maybe even exceed the expectations and run again?  Or will she never recover?

     Readers who enjoy emotional, heartwarming stories will enjoy this book as it is a moving story. The life lesson is no matter how big the burden, you can accomplish anything. In the book, Jessica used some of our school’s essential habits. She persevered throughout the book when things weren’t coming easy to her. She also used  initiative. When she wasn’t able to walk, she used her initiative to find many different techniques to move around her house. These traits made her seem like such a real character. There are many different emotions in this book. For example, it was very sad when one of Jessica’s running mates died in the same accident where Jessica lost her leg.  Later on, it became happier when Jessica continued to move on the right track to recovery. Overall, this book exceeded my expectations of a decent book and was one of the best books I have ever read.