CTLC Novel: Runaway and Group Discussion

Hello my dear readers!

You may remember my blog about the Colorado Teen Literature Conference (found here) and how as a volunteer I got to meet Andrew Smith and Wendelin Van Draanen.  Well, before the conference, we were required to pick a text by each author to read and discuss so that we would understand why they have the impact on the YA literature market that they do.

The first one was Wendelin Van Draanen.  Wendelin is awesome and a little over hyper, which makes her even more likable in my mind.  (Here is a great interview video of her so you can see what I mean.)  I chose to read Runaway for her selection.

Runaway is about a 6th grade girl named Holly who runs away from the foster care system and keeps a journal of her day to day life.  It's the kind of book I would have gravitated to as a middle school student, it really is.  I have always been writing, and while I didn't start keeping an actual journal until I was 15, I know how it feels to need to write about things.

I thought I was going to love it.  I didn't even finish it.  It just seemed to drag on and on for me.

When we talked about it in group, a lot of the members said they felt like Holly seemed too old for her age.  Maybe that's part of why I struggled with it.  We wondered if maybe it was because kids in that situation are forced to grow up faster than they should, so they come across as older.  Another thing that was prevalent through the book was Van Draanen's idea of "Hope in the Mail".  There was a lot of hope by the end of the book (I skipped to the ending and read it) and peppered throughout.

The writing style really does a good job of speaking for the character of Holly though.  There are bits of poetry throughout, and you really get a sense of how angry Holly is until the end.  I think maybe I just wasn't in the right place to read this book right now; Van Draanen is a very good writer and me not getting through is not a reflection of her.

Overall, this is a middle to early high school book.  The consensus in our group is that everyone should give it a look.

~Meaghan