The Runaways

by Ruth Thomas

Overview

Julia and Nathan have no friends to speak of. They're misfits of Mrs Henrey's class - awlays the last to be picekd for the team, and always without a partner. Then they discover a stash of money in a deserted house and suddenly, instant popularity seems just around the corner. But so is trouble, in the shape of the adults who start asking difficult questions. There is only one thing the pair can do now, and that is to run away!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781446453803
Publisher:	Penguin Random House Children's UK
Publication date:	04/30/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	325 KB
Age Range:	9 - 11 Years

About the Author

Ruth Thomas was born in Wellington, Somerset, in 1927. She received a BA Honours Degree in English and a Diploma in Education from Bristol University and went on to teach in a number of primary schools in the East End of London. Ruth began writing soon after she retired in 1985. Her first novel The Runaways won The Guardian Children's Fiction Award. This was followed by four further critically acclaimed novels including The Secret, which was televised by Thames Television. She died in 2011.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 5-8-- At the heart of this contemporary survival-friendship story are two unlikely 11-year-old allies, one black and one white. Nathan is small, wiry, bad-tempered, and an avid reader; Julia is tall, clumsy, a whiner, and virtually illiterate. The forces that unite them are their shared status as outsiders, and more importantly, their joint discovery of a treasure trove of cash in an abandoned house. Fearing retribution when their secret is exposed (they have flaunted their new-found wealth in front of classmates and teachers), they decide to run away together. What follows is a realistic record of a developing relationship as two former foes learn to respect, trust, and even make sacrifices for one another. In addition to compelling characterization, Thomas maintains interest with a storyline that is both believable and suspenseful, and a skilled writing style. This should appeal to young adolescents who can identify with the protagonists' feelings of inferiority, their desire to transcend their problems, and the conflicting needs for security and independence. --Julie Corsaro, University of Chicago Laboratory Schools

EBOOK COMMENTARY

Gr 5-8-- At the heart of this contemporary survival-friendship story are two unlikely 11-year-old allies, one black and one white. Nathan is small, wiry, bad-tempered, and an avid reader; Julia is tall, clumsy, a whiner, and virtually illiterate. The forces that unite them are their shared status as outsiders, and more importantly, their joint discovery of a treasure trove of cash in an abandoned house. Fearing retribution when their secret is exposed (they have flaunted their new-found wealth in front of classmates and teachers), they decide to run away together. What follows is a realistic record of a developing relationship as two former foes learn to respect, trust, and even make sacrifices for one another. In addition to compelling characterization, Thomas maintains interest with a storyline that is both believable and suspenseful, and a skilled writing style. This should appeal to young adolescents who can identify with the protagonists' feelings of inferiority, their desire to transcend their problems, and the conflicting needs for security and independence. --Julie Corsaro, University of Chicago Laboratory Schools

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