RUNNING PAST DARK

A Virginia teen grieving the loss of her twin sister is bullied by people in her town and finds an outlet in ultra running.

Senior Scotlyn O’Doul’s sister, Cait, died in a car accident with their high school’s football coach, Jory Wilson. An absence of skid marks at the accident scene leads investigators to conjecture that Cait may have deliberately run the car into a wall, devastating Scotlyn and her mother, who has turned to heavy drinking since Cait’s death. Coach Jory was adored by the community, and many people accuse Scotlyn of lying when she reveals that Cait told her he’d raped her. When her Japanese American exercise physiology teacher tells her she would be perfect for ultra running, she finds a new purpose and a less painful coping mechanism for her grief than the self-harm she has been engaging in. Scotlyn’s vulnerable but tough first-person narrative tone will bring readers into her corner, and they’ll ache for her feelings of loneliness as her mother struggles more and more dramatically with her alcohol use disorder. Scotlyn, who is white, wonders if she can trust Nico, a Latine guy she has long had feelings for. The underlying answer to the mystery of what actually happened with the accident is complex. Scotlyn’s preparations to run the Hellgate, a 100K race, provide an unusual, auspicious thread that will spur readers on to the resolution.

A twist-filled, highly original mystery with a message of hope.