Runner
Fiction
By Carl Deuker
Reviewed by Hillahn S.
5 out of 5 Stars
Chance Taylor worries about things kids his age don’t usually worry about. He worries about the mortgage fees, the food bills, the gas bills, the rent, and with a dad who’s a drunk and can’t hold a job for over a week these things just wont go away with wishful thinking. Chance’s dad also has a reputation for being the biggest coward alive. He got kicked out of the army and for most of the time he is smoking or dead drunk. Chance’s mom and dad got a divorce and legally Chance was supposed to live with his mom and stay with his dad over the weekends, but one day when his mom was supposed to come pick him up after a long, boring weekend she never came. His dad took him to the flat that she used to live in and found it empty. She had left without warning and the only thing left of her was a note that said “it will only be for a little while” (Runner pg 27).
Chance didn’t know how he would survive. He got a job washing dishes for a restaurant but the pay was not enough to keep them afloat. One day when he was finishing one of his daily runs and had just gotten out of the shower a fat man came up to him, asking him if he would like to make some easy cash. At first Chance denied the offer of the money because it was too easy, all he had to do was run by a bunch of trees and search for packages that someone would drop off for him. He would then take them to his locker and leave them there. Chance knew that his new job was illegal but what could he do? He needed the money. The following events will set off a chain of explosions in your head as you read Runner, an action-packed, fast-paced story about desperation, independence and heroism.
I loved this book because it shows that there are more ways of being a hero then joining the army and leaving the country to fight in Iraq and other foreign places. You don’t need to be all important with a lot of military training and information; you can just be like Chance’s dad who was willing to sacrifice himself to save thousand of people in his home country. I would recommend this book to any age group or to any personality. It fits just about everyone and makes people realize that they can all be heroes and stand up for their freedom and rights.
