Track #3 -Sunny by Jason Reynolds*

The day Sunny is born, his mother dies (amniotic embolism).  His father, whom he calls Daryl-never, ever dad-has been a stone wall.  The bright spots in his life are his homeschool teacher Aurelia and track.  Track, however, has become boring.  He runs the 1600 m and wins every time.  Boring.  So to spice up the meet one day, he walks and loses.  This choice commences some events which are painful yet beneficial.  One change is his relationship with his father and another change is in the event he trains for at track.
Sunny's personality comes alive on the pages as he writes in his diary.  This book brought some tears.
*Highly recommend. Love this series!  Not many books about track/field.
-Borrowed from the library.