RUNAWAY
Wendelin van Draanen
Laurel Leaf Books/Random House
Fiction
Hardcover: 0375835229
Paperback: 9780440421092
288 pages

When Holly's teacher, Mrs. Leone, gives her a blank journal, Holly is disgusted. Writing in a journal can't make her forget that she's a 12-year-old orphan and that her mother died of a heroin overdose, or that the foster parents she's living with abuse her, locking her in the laundry room for days and sticking her head in the toilet when she tries to defend herself. Mrs. Leone could never understand Holly and, in Holly's opinion, probably doesn't care to. No one knows what she faces each day because she tells no one. But when boredom threatens to drive her crazy one night in the laundry room, Holly starts to write. And despite her scorn at the mere idea of keeping a journal, she continues writing.

When Holly can no longer take the abuse, she runs away. Unlike her previous attempts, this time she succeeds, making it out of town and heading west. She takes only the essentials...and her journal, filling long hours of fear and boredom by updating Mrs. Leone, despite the fact that her teacher will never see her or the journal again.

We follow Holly through her struggles, victories and worst nightmares as she heads toward the Pacific Ocean and does whatever it takes to stay alive and free from her biggest fear --- Social Services. No stranger to the streets, Holly sleeps out in the cold, steals food and supplies, hides in the hot, dark cargo hold of a cross-country bus, and lies to everyone but her journal. She enjoys reading (and eventually writing), loves dogs and plans to become a vet someday by learning math and science with stolen textbooks (though she feels guilty about stealing anything but food), and somehow manages to hold herself and her dreams together in the face of constant and life-threatening dangers.

Over the course of her journey she also learns to face her past through her writing and discovers a true knack for poetry, much to her surprise. What started as a way to fend off boredom by writing angry and sarcastic notes to Mrs. Leone slowly becomes a tool for self-discovery, an honest account of her life and, in a way, her only confidante and most prized possession. As Holly comes to terms with her life and overcomes obstacle after obstacle to improve it, she eventually learns to accept love and kindness instead of running from it.

Holly may be familiar to fans of Wendelin Van Draanen, as she originated in the author's earlier novel, SAMMY KEYES AND THE SISTERS OF MERCY (and Sammy shows up in RUNAWAY as well). Holly is spunky, smart, brave and vulnerable, and we love to root for her. Despite the horrors she endures, the book is not as gritty as it could have been, and Holly's mature and insightful writing sometimes make her world seem less threatening than it might be in real life --- although that could also be because Holly doesn't tell us everything and occasionally skips the most horrific of her experiences.

RUNAWAY seems to have a touch of innocence that doesn't always mesh with the idea of a child living on the streets. But Van Draanen is an excellent writer and Holly is someone to admire as she perseveres in a life that would destroy most people. Her story is worth reading and learning from.

   --- Reviewed by Emily Shaffer

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