SuitabookRunaway
Wendelin Van Draanen
- Reading
- Read in short sections and pause after especially threatening or sorrowful entries. Invite the reader to name Holly’s feelings, notice moments of support, and stop or return later if discussion becomes overwhelming.
- Themes
- Survival and homelessness: Holly travels alone, looking for food, warmth and shelter, and stays in parks or homeless encampments. The book presents this through Holly’s fictional journal narrative and lived experience.
- Addiction and bereavement: Holly confronts her mother’s heroin addiction and death from an overdose. The book presents this through Holly’s fictional journal narrative and emotional experience.
- Care, harm and asking for help: Holly has experienced several foster placements, harmful treatment and difficult relationships with adults before eventually asking for help. Adults are shown as having both good intentions and serious flaws; the narrative gives significance to connections that help Holly survive.
- Worth knowing
- Consider reading alongside a trusted adult if family addiction, parental death, homelessness, abuse or physical danger may feel particularly close. The book offers openings for discussing how people seek and receive help.