A lifelong climber, seventeen-year-old Jordan spends as much time as he can scaling the crags outside his Washington hometown. His friend A.J., a fellow climber and popular super-jock, keeps the gorilla football players off Jordan's back, and his girlfriend Juana likes the crags as much as he does. All in all, Jordan's got a crimp hold on happiness. But even the tightest grip is useless if a piece of the rock breaks away. For the climber, there are only two absolutes in life: gravity and death. Unfortunately, Jordan can't protect his friends from either. Praise for John Foley "Convincing and exciting-Hoops of Steel is terrific and deserves a wide audience."-Carl Deuker, author of Night Hoops "[Running With the Wind is] a powerful and honest approach to coping with life's difficulties."-School Library Journal "Fast-paced and easy to read. . . an engaging and reassuring story about friendship, love and loss, and truly living in the present moment."—Bill Sherwonit, author of To the Top of Denali and Living with Wildness: An Alaskan Odyssey A Long Way Down