{"product_id":"runaway-isbn-9780307975973","title":"Runaway","description":"\u003cb\u003eThis diary of a runaway girl and her search for a home celebrates hope, resilience, and happy endings as only Wendelin Van Draanen, the author of Flipped and other acclaimed novels, can.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Holly has run away before, but this time she actually gets away—and what at first felt like an escape soon becomes a daily struggle for survival. She is smart and resourceful, and she manages to make it across the country on her own. But how long can this go on? It’s getting harder to avoid the truth—Holly is now homeless.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Runaway is a remarkably uplifting portrait of a girl still young and stubborn and naive enough to believe there’s a better place for her in the world.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Will grab readers from the first entry.” —Kirkus Reviews\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Holly’s lively self lingers in the way the best characters do. Runaway is certainly one of the best young adult books of the year.” —The Sacramento Bee\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e“Will grab readers from the first entry.”— \u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Holly's lively self lingers in the way the best characters do. \u003ci\u003eRunaway\u003c\/i\u003e is certainly one of the best young adult books of the year.” — \u003ci\u003eThe Sacramento Bee\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “This is a great book [for] young teens . . . Van Draanen has shown great versatility in adding another dimension to her already respected body of work.” —\u003ci\u003eSchool Library Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “The ending of this taut, powerful story seems possible and deeply hopeful.” —\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Readers will be drawn to Holly as she shifts between her search for a safe place to live, her anger at the foster care system and her reflections on the circumstances that led up to her mother's overdose.” — \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003eWendelin Van Draanen\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003ewas a teacher for many years before turning to writing full-time. She is the author of many beloved and award-winning books. For middle graders, she’s written \u003ci\u003eSwear to Howdy\u003c\/i\u003e and the Sammy Keyes mystery series. For teens and tweens, there’s \u003ci\u003eFlipped,\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Running Dream,\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eConfessions of a Serial Kisser,\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eRunaway.\u003c\/i\u003e And for younger readers, check out the Shredderman quartet and the Gecko and Sticky series. Wendelin Van Draanen lives in Central California with her husband and two sons. Find her on the Web at WendelinVanDraanen.com or on Twitter at @WendelinVanD.May 17th\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    It’s cold. It’s late. I’m trapped in here, trying to sleep under this  sorry excuse for a blanket, and I’ve just got to tell you—you don’t know  squat. You think you know what I’m going through, you think you know how I  can “cope,” but you’re just like everybody else: clueless. Writing.  Poetry. Learning to express myself. “It’ll help you turn the page, Holly.  Just try it.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Well, I’m trying it, see? And is it making me feel better? NO! Giving me  this journal was a totally lame thing to do. You think writing will get me  out of here? You think words will make me forget about the past? Get real,  Ms. Leone!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Words can’t fix my life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Words can’t give me a family.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Words can’t do jack.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    You may be a teacher, Ms. Leone, but face it: You don’t know squat.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    May 19th\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Oh, you really took the cake today. “Put your most embarrassing experience  in the form of a cinquain poem.” What did you expect me to do? Write the  truth? I knew you’d read them out loud and you did! How do you spell  idiot? I spell it L-E-O-N-E.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Did you like my little poem about spilling my milk in a restaurant?  Stupid, I know, so give me an F, see if I care. Like I can even remember  ever being in a real restaurant.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    You want a cinquain poem about a most embarrassing moment that actually  happened to me? Okay, here you go:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Prisoner\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Chained outside\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Shivering, huddling, sobbing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Naked in the rain\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Alone\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Oh, yeah. That makes me feel SO much better.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    May 20th\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    My mom died two years ago today.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    I’d been scamming food, she’d been shooting up.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    I miss her.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    More than I have tears to cry, I miss her.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    May 20th, again\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    You want to know why I was crying at recess? That cat Camille is why. She  called me a homeless freak. Told me I had a face only my mother could  love. Normally, I would have told her to eat dirt and die, but today I  just couldn’t take it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    I didn’t tell you because I knew you wouldn’t believe me. Everyone knows  she’s your favorite. “Miss Leone, do you need some help?” “Miss Leone, do  you want me to pass those out?” “Oh, Miss Leone, you look so pretty  today!” Adopt her, why don’t you?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Oh, that’s right—she already has two parents.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    May 20th again, again\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    When they moved me in with the Benders, the social worker told me that  they were “very kind and very patient people.” What a laugh. They’re  phonies, is what they are. Mrs. Bender is a heartless witch, and Mr.  Bender is a total creep. He’s always touching me. On the shoulder. On the  hair. On the hand. He gets that same look that Mr. Fisk used to get when  his wife wasn’t around.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Social services won’t believe me if I complain. They’ll say I’m just  looking for trouble. Lying. Faking. Overreacting. “Self-inflicting.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Well, I’m not going through that again. I’d rather DIE than go through  that again. So tonight when Mr. Bender started massaging my shoulders, I  told him, “Stop it!”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    He didn’t. “I’m only trying to help you unwind,” he said in his snaky  voice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “Stop it!” I shouted. “Don’t touch me!” And I slapped his creepy hands  away.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    That brought Mrs. Bender running. “What is going on in here?” she asked,  and after he explained it to her, I got locked in my room. Not the room  they show the social worker. That’s the room they tell me I’ll get when  I’m a “good” girl. The room I really get is the laundry room. They give me  a mat, a blanket, and a bucket to pee in.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    So sweet dreams, Ms. Leone, in your feathery bed or whatever you have.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Do you really believe words are going to keep me warm and safe tonight?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    May 21st, early morning\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Why am I doing this? Why am I writing to you again? I’m shivering in this  room, huddled under this blanket writing to you, and why? What good is it?  I’m hungry, I can’t sleep, I’m locked in here, and I’ve got to pee. I hate  using the bucket, I just hate it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Man, I’ve got to go. Hold on a minute.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Oh, that’s better.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Maybe I can get back to sleep now.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Nope. I’m too cold.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    So you want to hear how I get a drink when they trap me in here on  weekends? I turn on the washer. Pretty sly, huh? I used to put my blanket  in the dryer and get it roasting hot, but the dryer quit working and of  course I got blamed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    I don’t mind the size of this squatty little room, it’s the cold that gets  me. Why can’t they give me a better blanket? How about a sleeping bag?  Would that kill them?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Whatever. No matter how much I try, I’ll never be “good” enough to sleep  in the real room.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    I’ve got to come up with a plan to get out of here.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    May 21st again, lunchtime\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    What is it with you and poetry? It’s like some crazy obsession with you.  And I couldn’t believe your stupid “Life is poetry” statement. Maybe your  life is poetry, but mine’s a pile of four-letter words. “Find the motion.  Find the rhythm. Find the timbre of your life.” Whose idea is all this?  Yours? Did somebody teach you this stuff? How’s this ever going to help me  in life?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    And guess what? You can forget it. I’m not doing it. Write your own stupid  poem about your own poetic life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Mine would just get me sent to the office.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    May 21st again again, after school\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    I hate you, you know that? I hate you for making me write that poem. I  hate you for making me lie about my life. But most of all I hate you for  acting so sweet to me. You don’t really care. I’m a job to you, like I am  to everybody else. I know it, so quit pretending you care.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    And you probably think you’re doing a good job, but guess what? You’re  not. I can see right through you, so just leave me alone, would you?  Forget I’m even in your class. Forget you’re supposed to be trying to  “help” me. And quit making me write poems!","brand":"Ember","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302919196901,"sku":"NP9780307975973","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780307975973.jpg?v=1767735977","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/runaway-isbn-9780307975973","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}