Charlie's Run [Hardcover]

Valerie Hobbs (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

In running away from home, Charlie runs into more than he bargained for

The night that Charlie Bascomb's parents announce that they are separating, he knows that even though they aren't saying that horrible word divorce, it's only a matter of time. He can't bear the thought of his family breaking up and decides that it's up to him to do something to keep his parents from making a terrible mistake. In the middle of the night, he creeps out of the house and into the darkness, determined to stay away from home for only a day or so, to scare them, to show them, to make them change their minds. But a chance encounter with another runaway, a girl with troubling secrets and a stolen car, leads Charlie farther from home than he'd ever intended to go. Soon Charlie begins to see that it is he who has made the terrible mistake, one that he may not be able to undo, and that there are far worse things that can happen to a kid than his parents getting a divorce.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From the author of Carolina Crow Girl comes an emotionally complex rendition of a familiar story: boy runs away, then realizes there's no place like home. Eleven-year-old Charlie lives with his parents, three siblings, "three dogs, seven cats, all the fish, and Molly the horse"--but now his father is moving out. Always a Boy Scout and his mother's "Mister Sunshine," Charlie balks at his parents' implicit expectation that he accept their separation bravely. Hoping to teach them a lesson about broken families, he runs away. Almost immediately, he meets a teenage girl named Doo, a fellow runaway with a car, and together they head farther away than Charlie ever meant to go. Doo is fleeing her sexually abusive stepfather (the material is handled obliquely) and violent, drug-addicted mother; she is driving a stolen car to reach her drug-dealer father, who turns out to be in prison. Doo is an interesting and erratic personality, a rebel with a heart that's only sometimes made of gold, and her friendship with Charlie brings out the best in her time after time. In the end, after saving someone's life and nearly being sent to "juvie," Charlie returns home, ready to value all that he has. Charlie's fate is never in doubt--it is Hobbs's energetic, honest storytelling that will hook readers. Ages 10-up. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7-In this coming-of-age story, Hobbs examines the deeper meanings of family, freedom, and responsibility. When 11-year-old Charlie Bascomb's parents announce that they are separating, he can't bear it. To keep them from making a big mistake, he decides he'll run away, just for a day or two, so that his mom and dad will realize what a broken family feels like. Leaving his home in the California countryside, Charlie catches a ride to the coast with another runaway, Doo, a 14-year-old driving a stolen yellow Volkswagen. Running from her alcoholic mother and drug-dealing, abusive stepfather, Doo seeks her father, only to find him in jail. Charlie realizes he's made a big mistake when they get involved with homeless teens, one of whom nearly dies from a drug overdose, and he sees that worse things can happen to a kid than a divorce. From his experience and his relationship with Doo, Charlie learns that he will have family, even if his parents split, and that their happiness is important. Charlie, who wears a red cowboy hat as he leaves home and uses the knowledge learned from Boy Scouts while on the road, is very young at the book's beginning, but he is forced to grow up quickly. A fast-moving plot, complex and appealing characters, and an engaging writing style make Charlie's Run a sure winner.
Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (April 28, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374349940
• ISBN-13: 978-0374349943
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,150,873 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

What I've learned in all the years since I began writing is that each of us has at least one special story to tell. Some stories are sad, some funny, but all are as unique as our fingerprints. We are storytellers, every one of us. Some of us just have to write those stories down. I didn't always want to be a writer though. What I longed for most was to be an ice skater, but when I was fifteen I moved with my family from New Jersey to California and there went the ice.

My first short story began with a journal entry written when I was nineteen, after a close friend of mine met with a tragic accident. Many years later, that same story became the basis for my first novel, How Far Would You Have Gotten If I Hadn't Called You Back . Eight novels have followed, with three more to come in the next few years. Writing is the hardest work I've ever done, but by far the most fun.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charlie's Run, May 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Charlie's Run (Hardcover)

Loved this book and I am an adult.As a grandmother who has many books for my grandchildren to read ,I can feel free to have this book right out on the coffee table for them to pick up.It is good and I say good for the kids of today to read with all their mixed up feelings about devorce in their families. Am turning my copy over to the local library for other children to read and enjoy as we have after my family has finished reading it. Bravo Valerie Hobbs ! Keep these good books coming.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charlie's Run, May 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Charlie's Run (Hardcover)

Loved this book and I am an adult.As a grandmother who has many books for my grandchildren to read ,I can feel free to have this book right out on the coffee table for them to pick up.It is good and I say good for the kids of today to read with all their mixed up feelings about devorce in their families. Am turning my copy over to the local library for other children to read and enjoy as we have after my family has finished reading it. Bravo Valerie Hobbs ! Keep these good books coming.