As I read Ghost Runners, I was not only moved, I actually felt as though I were being transported. Ghost Runners is a story about young men who want to compete, to run, to prove themselves physically and challenge the limits of their bodies in the Olympic games. Their physical obstacles are juxtaposed with the depravity of real, social barriers. The horror of the time, of the way people did (and still) treat each other due to ignorance and fear: the two factors that drive any sort of racism or classism, sets the background of a story about humanity and struggle that these two boys face. This book is a piece of historical fiction that shows the endurance and tenacity it took for these runners to exercise simple human rights, and as they risk so much; brave so much, they do, in no small way, change the world.

The care that Robert Rubenstein puts into portraying this story is evident. The delicate, zoomed-up portrait into these boys' lives is utterly transcendent and remarkably powerful. This is a book that will stand the test of time, as it confronts the endurance of spirit amidst the horrors that people can inflict when they attempt to dehumanize others. Ghost Runners tells a tale that has been waiting to be heard, that of actual runners Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller, and in my opinion, this book should be taught widely, and read by everyone. If I could give it more than five stars, I would.