The Running Dream

The Running Dream, by Wendelin Van Draanen, features sixteen-year-old Jessica Carlisle as its protagonist and first-person narrator. After setting a personal record in the 400-meter dash at a track meet, Jessica’s team bus is struck by another vehicle, resulting in the death of one student and the loss of Jessica’s leg. The story encompasses Jessica’s coming-of-age as she learns to adapt to changes in her life and overcome the significant challenges of having a physical disability.

The Running Dream is organized into five sections, each of which is named after aspects of the track. “Part I: Finish Line” begins with Jessica in the hospital, after the tragic accident. According to her doctor, her youth and athleticism will allow her to heal quickly, but nothing will change the emotional and mental trauma that she suffers. Jessica’s identity is tightly wrapped up in running, and the apparent loss of that ability sends her into a spiral of depression and loathing. She battles a potential addiction to painkillers, as well as learning to adjust to the limitations of her mobility. Although she is aware of the extent to which her family and friends are supportive, her gratitude is dulled by her feelings of anger, bitterness, and self-pity.

“In Part II: Headwind,” Jessica begins to adapt to life back at school. With her best friend and track teammate Fiona always at her side, Jessica learns to navigate the school both in classes and on campus. Her peers cannot help but notice her disability, and they seem to see only that aspect of Jessica; some students are awkward around her, while others pretend she isn’t there at all. The only group of people who seems to go out of their way to keep her included is the track team. Outside of school, Jessica undergoes physical therapy and measurements to prepare for the initial leg prosthetic that will allow her to try to regain some sense of normalcy in her life.

“Part III: Straightaway”emphasizes the beginning of Jessica’s maturation. She is overwhelmed with emotion when her track coach, Coach Kyro, rallies the track team to spearhead fundraisers to pay for Jessica’s running prosthetic. In math class, Jessica is assisted by the student she sits next to at the table in the back of the room, Rosa Brazzi. Rosa has cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair, but she is highly intelligent and goes out of her way to help Jessica improve her math scores. A friendship develops between the two girls that will radically change Jessica’s outlook on life.

In “Part IV: Adjusting the Blocks,” Jessica learns to walk again using a temporary prosthetic. Her story becomes better known through her team’s fundraisers, her crush Gavin Vance’s newspaper article, and coverage by a local television channel. Then her life changes when her track team, with the help of an anonymous donor, raises enough money to purchase the running prosthetic. The prosthetic limb is revealed to Jessica at a surprise party thrown at the local movie theatre.Surrounded by her family, friends, teammates, and physicians, Jessica understands that her running dream is going to come true.

Finally, “Part V: Starting Line” sees Jessica choosing to pay forward her newfound abilities to walk and run. It takes time to find her footing in the running prosthetic, but once she hits her stride, she regains the passion that she thought was once gone forever. Afraid that she will drift away from Rosa, Jessica is determined to keep Rosa’s friendship a constant in her life. She wants to give Rosa the same support that Rosa presented to her during her recovery. Jessica decides to run in the ten-mile-long River Run race while pushing Rosa in a wheelchair. Not only does it give Rosa a chance to “run,” something she cannot do, but it also calls attention to people with disabilities who deserve to be seen as more than just the condition they possess. Jessica trains hard for the race, and with the support of Team Rosa and her coach, she completes the event. Jessica realizes that Rosa was right: the finish line and the starting line are the same, as where one adventure ends, another waits to begin.

The Running Dream calls attention to the unfairness and unexpectedness of life, but also how perseverance through those challenges can ultimately make someone a stronger, better human being.