{"product_id":"racing-the-rain-9781476769882","title":"Racing the Rain","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom the author of the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling \u003ci\u003eOnce a Runner\u003c\/i\u003e--acclaimed by \u003ci\u003eRunner's World\u003c\/i\u003e as \"the best novel ever written about running\"--comes that novel's prequel, the story of a world-class athlete coming of age in the 1950s and '60s on Florida's Gold Coast.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eQuenton Cassidy is the skinniest boy in school, and also one of the fastest. Cassidy spends his afternoons exploring his primal surroundings: the local river, the nearby ocean, the lakes, swamps, and forests that dominate the landscape of the Florida everglades. While adventuring, Cassidy befriends Trapper Nelson, an iconoclastic hunter who lives in an isolated compound on the riverbank. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBy junior high, Cassidy dreams of becoming a basketball player, but Nelson's influence runs deep and Cassidy begins to view running as a way to interact with the natural world. Warned of Nelson's checkered past, Cassidy dismisses the stories as hearsay, until his town is rocked by the disappearance and apparent murder of a prominent judge and his wife. Cassidy's loyalty to his friend is severely tested just as his opportunity to make his mark as a gifted runner comes to fruition. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHailed by National Book Award winner Bob Shacochis as a \"lovely novel that reminds us that what is most valuable is life is the spirit to accomplish impossible things,\" \u003ci\u003eRacing the Rain \u003c\/i\u003eexplores a small town's secrets while vividly capturing the physical endurance, determination, and mindset required of a champion. \"A celebration of the purity of the sport\" (\u003ci\u003eFort Worth Star-Telegram\u003c\/i\u003e), it is an epic coming-of-age classic about the environments and friendships that shape us all.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eParker, John L.:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - John L. Parker, Jr. has written for \u003ci\u003eOutside\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eRunner's World\u003c\/i\u003e, and numerous other publications. A graduate of the University of Florida's College of Journalism as well as its College of Law, Parker has been a practicing attorney, a newspaper reporter and columnist, a speechwriter for then Governor Bob Graham, and editorial director of \u003ci\u003eRunning Times\u003c\/i\u003e magazine. The author of \u003ci\u003eOnce a Runner\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAgain to Carthage\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eRacing the Rain\u003c\/i\u003e, he lives in Gainesville, Florida, and Bar Harbor, Maine.","brand":"Scribner Book Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50544539107602,"sku":"9781476769882","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_69e95530-516b-49bb-bf27-0fb2689cb5d1.jpg?v=1731530338","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/racing-the-rain-9781476769882","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}