Library Book-es

Runaway by Wendelin Van Draanen
Abused by several foster families, Holly decides to run away. Her journal tells of jumping trains, sleeping in boxes, and eating trash, and she pours out her anger as poems. She trusts no one, not even the kindly woman who hands out food or the girl who tries to help. But Holly is lonely, and people offer her their home. Can she forget her anger and learn to trust them?

I can't imagine having to find my food and clothes and shelter. I've never experienced anything like that, and at the very least I would become bitter and disillusioned. My family is supposed to help me, but they're gone. The state handed me to other families who were supposed to help by they starved me and locked me up. It's a salvation story: you've hit rock bottom, and someone inexplicably helps you up and carries you on.

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The Crown of Dalemark by Diana Wynne Jones
Mitt, accused of murder in the South, has fled North, only to find himself ordered to assassinate the heir to the throne. If he refuses, the lives of his friends are in danger. He joins Moril the musician, Maewen, who has been kidnapped from the future to replace the heir apparent, in their quest to bring peace to Dalemark. But the evil of Kankredin is gathering, and it seems that none of them, or Dalemark, can escape.

Time travel is always hard to sort out, and if the person in question must also play the part of another person, it can quickly become chaotic. This is Jones's style. Her other books seem similarly scattered, but once the ending has been read twice the general feeling is of liking. Jones's descriptions are very powerful.

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National Novel Writing Month starts in thirteen days!

Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall, Denver Moore, and Vincent Lynn

Denver grew up in a rural Louisiana shack, working for the Man to pay off his ancestor's 'debts'. Then, one day he jumped a train to Fort Worth and lived on the streets until he found himself at a dingy mission.
Ron Hall was an international art dealer used to high-line clothes, cars, and checks. But his wife, Debbie, felt called to help the unfortunate, and she signed them up to volunteer at a homeless mission on Tuesdays, despite Ron's protests. Debbie soon endeared herself to everyone at the mission, and Ron reluctantly found himself drawing closer to Denver. Their friendship and faith, however, would soon be tested by heartbreaking tragedy.

If you don't know anything- if you can't read, write, and are in the middle of nowhere- how do you know you are in slavery? There's something of a double meaning in this book: Ron was trapped by his false sense of superiority, and unable to embrace his friends until he lost everything. The old paradox Die to Live. In the same way, Denver was trapped by decades of racism, and we're trapped in sin. But, as a Longfellow poem we read recently in Lit says, there's light behind the clouds, even if we can't see it. Denver and Ron worked through their differences and became as close as brothers, and we can do the same.


Mom and Dad are out of town; we're being watched by Anna The Intern, who is being called Ellen. She brought the Sword and the Stone for us to watch. As The Once and Future King is one of my favorite books, it's exciting. There is also cookie baking happening.