XRunner

by Peter XMcPhee

Overview

Kyle never expected to see Calgary's hard side--its seedy neighbourhoods marked with trash-filled lots, abandoned buildings, abandoned lives. But when his 14-year-old sister Meghan runs away from home, he knows he has to track her down.

Soon Kyle discovers a dark world of after-hours clubs, desperate street kids, drugs and violence. As he gradually uncovers clues about Meghan's whereabouts, he realizes that she is in grave danger and his search becomes an urgent race against time. Kyle is willing to do what it takes to save Meghan--but will it be enough?

Set against the gritty world of Calgary's inner-city, Runner is a suspenseful story of a brother's love for his troubled sister. [Fry Reading Level - 4.1

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781552776131
Publisher:	James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Publishers
Publication date:	01/04/2011
Series:	Lorimer SideStreets Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	1
Lexile:	HL740L (what's this?)
File size:	245 KB
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

PETER McPHEE, a Southern Alberta-based writer, was for many years an editor and film critic for the Winnipeg Sun. His plays have been produced at Winnipeg's Prairie Theatre Exchange and Calgary's Alberta Theatre Projects. He has written several books for both children and young adults, including Runner and A Way With Horses, both Canadian Children's Book Centre "Our Choice" Selections.

Editorial Reviews

Kyle Perry spends his evenings in downtown Calgary looking for his missing sister, Meghan. A month after her disappearance, he finds her diary in the pocket of a jacket given to a girl living on the street. Through Meghan's diary, Kyle realizes that her life is in danger, and he becomes determined to find her. He traces a goth girl, Janice, who had tried to help his sister, and persuades her to help him find Meghan. Kyle spends time with Janice and the children who live with her in an abandoned parking lot, learning about life on the street and its inherent dangers. Ironically, it is Janice and not Meghan who will come to harm through Meghan's treachery and Kyle's ignorance. McPhee attempts to write a teen novel that is both gripping and realistic. On the first account, he is successful. The dramatic chases and the characters' desperation likely will appeal to readers as well as the portrayal of drug use, abuse, prostitution, and crime. Unfortunately, most characters are two-dimensional and serve as victims only. Stash, the child Janice is trying to protect, is traumatized further after seeing Janice murdered. Kyle's parents fight each other instead of uniting to look for their daughter. Meghan moves to Vancouver to continue her life on the street. Runner starts with a well-adjusted and happy teen protagonist and turns him into an aimless character to whom life on the street does not look nearly as bad as it did in the beginning of the book. VOYA CODES: 2Q 2P M J (Better editing or work by the author might have warranted a 3Q; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2000, Orca, 144p, Tradepb. Ages 12 to 15. Reviewer: Betsy Fraser SOURCE: VOYA, June 2001 (Vol. 24, No. 2)

VOYA

This fast-paced book tells of the horror experienced by a family whose daughter has run away from home. It has been weeks since Kyle's sister, Meghan, left and there are few traces of her. Kyle takes Meghan's disappearance personally, feeling responsible because he always treated her poorly. Now Kyle is out on the streets until all hours of the night, searching for his sister in underground clubs, amongst homeless kids. He gets involved with a crowd that he never would have associated with previously, in a world full of trouble that fascinates him. Meghan's diary falls into Kyle's hands and for the first time he has a glimpse of where Meghan has gone and how she got there. He discovers her secret boyfriend, who has Meghan in fear for her life. McPhee makes the world of abandoned buildings and homeless kids real. He gives the reader an inside view of what it is like on the streets and what can force young people onto the streets. KLIATT Codes: JS—Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 1999, Orca/Lorimer, 151p, 18cm, $6.95. Ages 13 to 18. Reviewer: Shaunna S. Silva; Teacher, St. James School, Biddeford, ME, May 2001 (Vol. 35 No. 3)

KLIATT

Gr 9 Up-Readers get a look at the darker side of life in McPhee's tale of a high-school football player who is searching for his runaway sister. After their parents divorce, Kyle, 17, and Meghan, 14, are uprooted from their hometown of Toronto to live in Calgary, where Kyle immediately makes friends and the football team while Meghan struggles to find her niche. Falling in with the wrong crowd, she takes to running on the streets. As Kyle works to locate his sister, he finds himself struggling to fit into her milieu to do so. A page-turner with no happy ending, this is a realistic picture of street life.-Rebecca J. McTavish, Schlow Memorial Library, Clearfield, PA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

"...an exciting story of a life on the streets of Calgary. It is hard to put this book down once you start reading it because of the suspense that builds throughout Kyle's search for Meghan."

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