Hit the Ground Running
Alison Hughes, Orca Book Publishers. 205 pages.
Nominated for the Governor General’s award for young people’s literature, this book from Edmonton’s Alison Hughes features a deeper character study than you might expect from something aimed at a teen audience.
The book traces the journey of Dee, a barely-old-enough-to-have-a-learner’s-permit teen and her younger brother Eddie, who loves reptiles, outlandish stories and, well, doesn’t have any friends. They’re living in a small Arizona town, waiting for their dad to come home from an antiquing trip. Except that he doesn’t.
Desperate, and with children’s services closing in, the kids decide to embark on a risky trip north to Canada, where they have relatives.
What the reader gets is the story of a girl who is asked to grow up too fast, a boy without direction and how they bond through a bizarre trip north. This is more about character than plot; by the end, you’ll feel like Eddie and Dee are part of your family. Dee rises to the challenge of guardianship, while Eddie comes to grips with the fact that maybe dad won’t be around anymore. It’s a road trip story, but not like one you’ve ever read before. -Steven Sandor
Distorted Tourist