Track #02 Patina is written in the signature style of Jason Reynolds. This time we look at the life of Patina, or Patty as she prefers. Due to her mother being unable to care for her and her 
sister, she gives custody of her daughters to her brother and sister-in-law. This brings up many issues for Patty: the biggest being, how can she care for the people she loves. She takes on a “mother roll” to her sister, her mother, her friends and forgets herself. She is not sure why she becomes angry when people “think they know” about her and her family. It is only when she is running she is truly happy. biggest metaphor, like with Ghost, is running for something or in this case, for someone. She is running for her mom who has lost her legs to “the sugar” and for her father (who loved to watch baby Patty run) and passed away. She is running to beat girls who think they are better than her; to show them Patty’s mother did not make “junk.”
My biggest issue is, I do not think Patty really learns that she does not have to be a mother-figure and if she does lose, second place is not “first losing.” The second issue I have is at the end a tragic event occurs and a vital piece of information is forgotten. This story plot was not necessarily needed but having the “skip” took me out of the story. This is the only major weak spot in an otherwise decent book.
I would have liked to have seen all four stories in one book due to even though Patina is a standalone work, it helps to know book one.
(PS: Thanks to my coworker for helping me keep the them of a person behind the book!)