Review: Keeping Pace by Laurie Morrison (Children''s, 9 years +, 10/10E)

  April 2024, Amulet Books, 304 pages, Ebook, Review copy

Summary from Abrams Books

 Grace has been working for years to beat her former friend Jonah Perkins’s GPA so she can be named top scholar of the eighth grade. But when Jonah beats her for the title, it feels like none of Grace’s academic accomplishments have really mattered. They weren’t enough to win—or to impress her dad. And then the wide, empty summer looms. With nothing planned and no more goals or checklists, she doesn’t know what she’s supposed to be working toward.

Eager for something to occupy her days, Grace signs up for a half-marathon race that she and Jonah used to talk about running together. Jonah’s running it, too. Maybe if she can beat Jonah on race day, she’ll feel OK again. But as she begins training with Jonah and checking off a new list of summer goals, she starts to question what—and who—really matters to her. Is winning at all costs really worth it?

Engaging and heartfelt, Keeping Pace is about wanting to win at all costs—and having to learn how to fail.

Nayu's thoughts

I'm smiling at the irony of this book - not necessarily an intended irony, but simply because recently in group therapy living a life that is value driven rather than goal driven has been a discussed topic, which fits Grace's life so well. Grace is used to setting goals, fixating on the goals and letting the goals dictate her life including missing out on outings with friends, being resentful for being forced to stop studying by her mother, that it is no wonder when she misses out on the school prize she was certain she should get she is massively disappointed and feels lost. All her other pre-planned summer goals fall by the wayside for various reasons, and having to find new ones and admit she didn't get accepted for a summer program derails her a lot. 

That would be enough to cope with on its own but her friendship with Jonah becomes a rollercoaster which includes quite a train-wreck at one point with Grace failing spectacularly at being a good or even semi-decent friend. It is most definitely a summer of learning lots, predominantly nothing fact related and everything to do with all types of relationships, be they friends, more than friends and family connections. A wide range of topics is covered, including running away, divorce, moving schools, fractured relationships, sibling jealousy, and making new traditions. It might make you want to eat bagels!

I would say that Grace has to work harder than she ever has in life. Her confusion and how she failed was so relatable. Watching her gradually realise that focusing on values rather than goals is really hard, but when her new goals are also not necessarily successfully accomplished she realises that it's ok. The world won't end, and she is totally a better person for learning flexibility, responsibility, and improving her personal relations with everyone in her life, even her father who she realises is not as wonderful as she used to think and is does not care about her on the same level her mother, sister and cousin do. Grace screws up a lot, which I love because of the realism. I'd definitely like a sequel to see how she applies her new-found knowledge to the rest of her life in the school year. 

Find out more on Laurie's website

Suggested read

Another tale about personal growth is  Listen, Layla by Yasmin Abdel-Magied (Children's, 9 years +, 10/10E)