Ruby is so glad school is over for the term and she can hang out with her besties and leave her humiliation behind. PE (Physical Education) is the worst class, where her PE teacher enjoys making an example of her – just because he deems her unhealthy and overweight.

Her friends are supportive and love her just the way she is, as does her little sister Sasha and her mum and dad. Her brother Jake however, is on the same wavelength as her PE teacher. What makes it worse, was that he was once a bigger build, but now home from uni, watches his diet and works out to keep his new look. His patronising comments about Ruby’s size have begun to take effect.

Ruby is happy with herself and can usually ignore Jake’s jibes, but when she sees his comments aimed at their 10 year old sister, she gets angry with him. She’s well aware of how society somehow sees ‘more’ of a person as ‘less’. She’s heard all the fat jokes there is and has felt the hurt over the years. She will do anything to help Sasha avoid it all. When Jake goes too far one day, she makes a decision to prove that she too can enter a local running race and win.

When she sees Sasha believes in her, she knows she must go through with it. Their family have been through enough lately with their father leaving with another woman, and Sasha doesn’t need any more disappointment. Ruby’s training begins.

The key to her training and stickability to her vow to race is the new neighbour named Ollie next door. He’s no longer the boy she remembers in the sandpit at daycare. He’s now a cute guy and luckily still just as friendly as back then. He offers to help her train. It’s hard to run, hard to look sweaty, bright red and gasping for breath every time they’re together, but he doesn’t seem to mind.

Her goals become even wider. Run in the race her father and brother won, prove to Sasha (and herself) she can do it, and maybe (probably not, but it’s nice to dream), get to know Ollie more.

Slow Coach is such an easy book to fall into. The writing is engaging, authentic and often funny, and tells a great story. The added bonuses are a sweet romance, and body confidence being a key part of the novel without being didactic, or over the top with a ‘message’.

Ruby is such a strong, well developed character, and she is very easy to like as she just tries to be herself and look out for her little sister. Her patronising brother and PE teacher make perfect antagonist contrasts and are suitably easy to dislike. I could say they were 2 dimensional, but unfortunately people like this exist in real life.

A fun, summer, rom com is how Slow Coach has been labelled, but it’s so much more. I really enjoyed it.

Author – Bethany Rutter

Age – 12+

(2024, Hot Key Books, Running, Race, Challenge, Body Confidence, Friendship, Relationships, Family, Romance, Rom Com, Summer Holidays, Prove a point, Spite, New Neighbour, Training for a fun, Humour, Funny)