Themes: Sports, Urban Teens, Track, Running, Fiction, Chapter Book, Teen, Young Adult, Emergent Reader, Hi-Lo, Hi-Lo Books, Hi-Lo Solutions, High-Low Books, Hi-Low Books, ELL, EL, ESL, Struggling Learner, Struggling Reader, Special Education, SPED, Newcomers, Reading, Learning, Education, Educational, Educational Books. Central Avenue was close now. Victor knew he had to dig in. There was a place deep inside him. It's where his speed came from. He didn't understand it. But he trusted it. He finished one-step ahead of Marcos. Finding the "right book" for struggling learners is essential to build both confidence and proficiency. Reading supports must be seamless, so that struggling readers are not stigmatized. The District 13 series does just that—written using carefully chosen vocabulary and simple sentences, the novels offer compelling teen stories about characters that interest young adult readers. Using sports as a backdrop, these edgy and mature titles confront issues that are of great importance to urban teens, especially teenaged boys: Coming of age, dating, fitting in, friendships, drugs, self-esteem, and school. Straightforward plots move readers through the 48-pages of text quickly and efficiently with satisfying resolutions.