title: To Face the World
author: Pelkey, John C.
description: Shy Jon Perone loves to run, but confines it to the forest and the street near his working-class family's farm. He falls hard for pretty Jennifer Carling, a new student in his school. When he discovers that she likes to run, he jacks up his courage and joins the middle school track team just to be around her. His ploy succeeds when, failing to finish a race, she asks him to teach her how to run.
   However, Jennifer's upper-crust family comes cloaked in a web of deceit and chaos, full of secrets, some hidden all her life. As Jon and Jen's fledgling love deepens, the web strives to ensnare them. To fulfill their dream to create a relationship together while they attempt to set new records for their track team, they have to overcome the barriers thrown up by his conservative father, her crazy, rich parents, and their own coach.