50 pages • 1 hour read

Lu

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2018

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-4

Chapters 5-6

Chapters 7-8

Chapters 9-10

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Themes

Conquering Ego and Overcoming Obstacles

In the text, Lu overcomes both literal and figurative hurdles. With the help of Coach, Lu discovers methods for overcoming the hurdles in his life on and off the track, an important one being not letting embarrassment get in the way of achieving a goal or overcoming an obstacle. Through putting aside fears of embarrassment or failure, Lu overcomes his own obstacles and helps others to surmount the hurdles that stand in their way.

At the beginning of the text, Lu is concerned with appearing cool and avoiding embarrassment. His new track event, the 110-meter hurdle, poses a challenge to this goal, especially after a fall during his first meet running the event. He explains to Coach: “I am scared of not jumping ‘em and breaking my whole body up. You saw what happened on Saturday. I ain't built for that kind of embarrassment, Coach. Plus I’m way too pretty for bruises” (32). Though he tries to make light of his anxiety about the hurdles, Coach senses the ego in Lu’s statement, and therefore helps him to understand that embarrassment is a part of life, an unavoidable hurdle: “You can thank me tomorrow by butting out all that embarrassment nonsense. Sometimes we fall. It happens” (38). Lu takes this statement to heart, but it is not until he confronts this reality head-on that he overcomes it.

When a rogue gust of wind blows grit into Lu’s eyes, Lu must jump the hurdles without his contact lenses. Coach teaches him to keep his eye on the finish line, on his goal, to successfully jump the hurdles: “You don’t have to see the hurdle to know it’s there. You’ll feel it in your way. And sometimes timing is all you need to get over it” (101). Lu must figure out an entirely new way to jump the hurdles, this time having to trust his own timing and feeling his way through. He falls a lot. Lu must fall, to risk embarrassment, to overcome it. When Coach asks if Lu is alright after falling over a hurdle, Lu realizes: “I knew exactly what he was looking for. He was trying to see if I was embarrassed. I ain’t have to see him to know that. ‘Yeah, I’m straight.’ I was. It felt good to make it over one. Blind” (102). His failures no longer eclipse his confidence and pleasure from making it over a hurdle successfully.

When explaining his struggle with jumping the hurdles, Lu states: “Here’s the thing. When you look at a hurdle, it don’t really seem like that big of a deal until you get right up on it. You gotta time it just right” (21-22). While this statement applies to the literal hurdles on the track, it also applies characters’ lives in the story. Characters like Lu’s father, Goose, come up against a hurdle, something challenging or an obstacle they know they need to overcome, and suddenly it seems like a much bigger obstacle than they were originally expecting. This makes it challenging to then overcome the obstacle or surmount the hurdle.

Goose exemplifies this in his reluctance to give back the gold medal to Coach, even though he knows it is the right thing to do: “Look, I’ve just been, I don’t know… I guess … too embarrassed to confront him and give it back. He does not even know it was me. And the more time that went by, the harder it got” (143). Goose admits that embarrassment is a huge factor in his reluctance to give back the medal. Despite the toll it takes on Goose’s conscience to keep the medal all these years, his pride and desire to avoid embarrassment wins out until Lu helps him overcome this fear and return the medal. In doing so, Goose lets go of this mental toll and repairs his relationship with Coach.

Embarrassment plays an enormous role in avoiding challenges. As Lu learns to let go of embarrassment and ego, to be who he really is, it unlocks potential in him to help others to do the same. As Lu learns to let go of embarrassment, he helps his father, Goose, do the same, and in doing so both father and son grow and overcome the hurdles that stand in their way.

The Power of Names

Names are markers of identity, who one is and who one wants to be. The names we call ourselves and the names others call us can shape who we are and who we become, at times for the better. Names can also be a source of hurt, and when people use names to hurt someone else, there can be harmful ramifications. Lu learns that what others call him is just as important as what he calls himself.

To help Lu reframe his insecurity about his albinism, his parents call him “Lu the Lightning Bolt, because lightning so special it don’t never happen the same way or at the same place twice” (1). The nickname Lu the Lightning Bolt encourages Lu to derive confidence from his albinism rather than viewing it as something that sets him apart in a negative way. Lu often uses names to encourage himself. Each day before track practice, Lu repeats a mantra to himself: “'I am the man. The guy. The kid. The one. The only. The Lu. Lucky Lu. Lookie Lu. Lu the Lightning Bolt” (194-195). This mantra is a powerful statement which enables Lu to move through the world with confidence and illustrates that idea that what people call themselves can define who they are.

The power of names appears again when Goose gives Lu the responsibility of naming his baby sister. Lu decides to name his sister “Lightning” (190) to be called “Light.” At first, Lu’s identity feels threatened by the news of a new baby in the family, because he has always been the singular “lightning bolt” (1). Names have important symbolic meaning, so by naming his sister Light, he not only shows that his identity no longer feels diminished by her, but rather expanded as he considers the kind of big brother he wants to be. Light is now someone to “look for. To look after. To keep on” (190). Her name represents hope, and her presence in Lu’s life changes his perception of himself in a positive way. Lu realizes throughout the text that he wants to be a “real big brother” (181) and look out for her not only in childhood but for their entire lives.

Names can also cause pain and harm. There are many instances of name-calling in the text, some of which appear harmless, and others which negatively shape lives. Goose is an example of the latter. Called “Goose” because of his stutter, the name-calling Lu’s father endured sent him down a path of bad decisions with consequences that harmed others. Goose recalls his desire to be cool and admired by others: “At the time, I couldn't see nothing down the line in my life. I could only see what was right in front of me. And what was in front of me was stuttering and Goose jokes” (51). Being called “Goose” played a part in Goose’s decision to begin selling drugs, which harmed others and himself. Lu’s mother explains to Lu the real impact that name-calling can have: “Sometimes the jokes cut deep. Deeper than we think. And if we don’t deal with them, if we don’t figure out how to somehow get over them, move past them, we have no idea what they can do to us” (147). Through seeing the impact of name-calling on his father, Lu learns that it matters what one calls themselves, and what they call others.

At the end of the text, Coach articulates the power of names as a marker of identity. As he addresses his athletes after they have forfeited the championship meet for him, he states: “We get to name ourselves. Some people call us a team. Defenders. Some say we’re just knucklehead kids and a cab-driving coach. I call us family” (214). Coach implies that despite what anyone else thinks of them, however else others may perceive them, they have the power to name themselves based on the integrity of their actions. Lu’s encouragement to forfeit the meet enables the Defenders to call themselves family.

Everyone Needs Help

Throughout the text, Lu learns that everyone is flawed, but that through help from others one can undergo growth and change. Various characters learn to accept help throughout the story, and in doing so they achieve more than they could have on their own. Lu comes to understand that human beings are not perfect, but that together they can help each other grow into better versions of themselves.

Goose teaches Lu that people are flawed, but with help they can fix their mistakes. Goose has many great qualities including his job as a rehab recruiter helping others to overcome their own struggles and hurdles. Yet Goose has also made mistakes, some of which had fatal consequences, such as when he sold Coach’s father the drugs that ended his life. When Lu learns the extent of Goose’s former occupation, he struggles with anger towards his father. Lu’s mother helps him to overcome his anger by reminding him: “He’s wrong. All I’m saying is, he’s human too” (147). Lu eventually forgives his father and helps him become a better version of himself by addressing his past mistakes.

With Lu’s support, Goose returns Coach’s Olympic gold medal, and the two men repair their friendship. Goose acknowledges that Lu is the reason he was able to make this decision, one that had hung over him for years: “Remember when I said I can see a lot of me in you? [...] Well, I think there’s some things in you that you see in me, that I didn’t even know were there” (164). Goose implies that he harbored resentment towards himself for years for not giving back the medal. The more time went on, the harder it was to address. With Lu pushing him to do the right thing, Goose realizes that he does have integrity, but that it took outside help from his son to access it and relieve his burden.

This theme also appears in Torrie “the Wolf” Cunningham’s storyline. Goose, the one who originally sold the Wolf his first hit of drugs, helps him make the choice to go to rehab. Goose and Coach Whit stage an intervention at the basketball court, and Whit reads an impassioned letter to her brother: “Brother, it’s time for your mountain to be moved [...] But… I can’t move it. I’ve tried. Goose has tried. We can’t move it, but you can. You can do this. You need to do this. I need you” (180). Whit emphasizes that while she will be there to support her brother, he is the one that ultimately needs to make the decision to get clean and sober. The Wolf accepts this, but it is only through the help and support offered by his sister that he can.

This theme again appears at the end of the text, when Lu and his teammates forfeit the championship meet to support Coach and his family at the hospital. At first, Lu’s teammates are reluctant to forfeit the meet. One states: “He don’t need us. He a grown-up” (202) to which Lu responds: “That don’t mean nothing. My dad needed me yesterday. My mother, too” (202). After the experiences Lu has seen and been a part of, including the Wolf’s intervention and his father’s decision to return the medal, Lu understands that everyone regardless of their age or status needs support. This convinces his teammates to go to the hospital to see Coach instead of taking part in the meet.

At the hospital, Coach sees his athletes and explains how much it means to him. He shares that when he got his gold medal back, he felt that its meaning had evolved. It was now a symbol of “the friends and family I made on that track [...] The help-ups, the cheers, the pushing, the pulling. Sharing the load” (213). He shares this lesson to encourage his athletes to be understand that they are not perfect, and to be vulnerable enough to ask for and accept help from others:

None of us are [perfect]. And what we learn is that if we push, if we aren’t scared to be scared, if we’re not terrified of being uncomfortable, if we can trust ourselves and be honest about where we fall short, where we miss the bar, and can accept a little help, which we all need sometimes, we can be…good. (214)

Coach’s statement to the team encapsulates one message of the text: that everyone needs support and help to grow. Asking for help requires vulnerability and a willingness to admit where one falls short, but in doing so the potential for growth and positive change is exponential.