Vancouver writer David N. Odhiambo’s Kipligat’s Chance departs from the experimental syntax and grammar of his first novel, diss/ed banded nation, but a close attention to language also makes his second novel a forceful read. Slang phrases, African words, and hip, blunt dialogue put the reader deep into the head of the novel’s narrator, a 16-year-old Kenyan immigrant living in a poor, ethnically diverse Vancouver neighbourhood.

John “Leeds” Kipligat and his best friend train under a failed runner-turned-coach to become competitive middle-distance runners and to earn scholarships to colleges in the United States. Flashbacks of Leeds’ childhood in Kenya tell of his brother’s prodigious running talent, while Leeds presently struggles to beat his brother’s fastest time. The personal hurdles that slow Leeds down embody a multitude of engaging themes.

Leeds’ typically teenage issues – the difficulty of identifying with his parents, shyness towards girls, fights with his best friend, bad grades – are depicted with an appropriately light, often humourous touch, while such serious problems as poverty, domestic violence, self-mutilation, and his mother’s illness are related with poignant gravity.

Leeds’ relationships with women are abandoned somewhat prematurely. Leeds moves from one erotic obsession to the next, easily forgetting the girls. This may be the truth of teenage romance, but it results in a story with a few too many dropped threads. When a girl dumps Leeds because her Russian immigrant father disapproves of their mixed-race relationship and is never mentioned again, an issue worth exploring is abandoned as well. The sections focusing on running are the most strongly conceived and executed. Leeds’ progress, charted by Odhiambo’s skillful use of track terminology, is accelerated by the coach, who imparts regular bits of wisdom that apply to running and to life.

Kipligat’s Chance is a compelling story about a young man, but is also a chance for readers to hear a fresh, honest voice poised at the convergence of several cultural influences.