I was taken on a rollercoaster through the life of a naive, ignorant and innocent juvenile. At the end of Runner, I was left quite satisfied. The author had me hooked. While reading the novel, I forgot about the life I live and was put into the life of a boy. This page turning hunk of 216 pages left me in awe. Not only this, but, it generated a different perspective on how to live. Life is a twisted, unfair and stressful game. However, you have no choice but to play. I was left with a befuddled idea of how to win this ¨game¨. I thought about this idea, and there is no way to ¨win¨. Life is unfair, and this is portrayed appropriately with the main character of my book, Chance. He is a boy living on a boat in Seattle. He muddles through his day to day, until one day, in desperate need of money, is presented with an opportunity, a strange man approached him and proclaimed, "But I don't have time to play games. So listen, and listen carefully. You're in trouble, and I can get you out of that trouble. I'm offering you a job, kid. Very good pay; very short hours. When somebody offers you easy money, you should at least hear him out." However, with this shot comes consequences. Chance gets offered a great deal of cash to pick up and deliver ¨packages¨. He doesn’t know what’s in them initially, eventually, Chance figures out they are bombs and he has helped terrorist attack the city. Comprehending what he has been apart of, Chance tries to salvage the city. Indeed he does, but not before his father’s life was taken. After his father’s death, Chance decided to live a different lifestyle and enlisted in the army.tBooks can teach us volumes regarding our lives. As I anxiously flipped through the pages, I observed an indisputable theme in this novel, the idea of for every action we take, there is a direct consequence. Chance experiences created positive outcomes and some other heart breaking, emotionally draining, consequences. The obvious of this being when Chance decided to take part in a inadequate, the consequence being the death of his father. As a reader, we can apply this to our own lives. It informs us to consider whether or not an action is worth taking, forces us to stop and think. Chance seemed to learn from this too. Starting the novel, Chance was an angry, unmotivated kid. He had to take a disheveled route, but he too learned and lived a better life from the decisions he made and the consequences that coincide with these choices. This spoke to me as a reader, it made me believe that we can all overcome our adversity (misfortune) as well. The mastermind behind the novel didn’t just teach me lessons, Deuker also brought me along on a journey through the life of a doomed. Cradled in my blanket, I could not put the book down, a prime example of his preeminent skillset was the way he illustrated Chance as a remarkably relatable teenager. Talking to his parents, friends, and teachers, the dialogue Chance used was inconceivably accurate. Just like the language of teenagers in our society today, Chance voiced with a youthful lingo. Details of less significance were just as precise. His way of life --thought process, insecurities, stress, dreams-- undeviatingly resembles that of the common, struggling teenager. This strategy brings the character to life and makes the messages that much more substantial or effective. Persevering through issues himself, Chance influences to teens from all over the world to acknowledge these same affairs in their lives. Minors are elucidated lessons everyday, don’t do this or that. Most of this gibberish goes in through one ear and out the other. However -when a kid visualizes this same message, from the perspective of another child going through the same dilemma- the message tends to strike a more distinct impact in the teen.Family struggles are a recurring conflict teenagers encounter and minors long for authors comparable to Deuker to apprise them with apprehension on how to deal with these issues. Carl Deuker--who has won 6 different awards for ¨Young Adult Book of the Year¨-- escorts teens to the understanding and meaning of family. Every family is compelled to prevail through their individual issues. Chance has his candid share of problems. His father is an alcoholic, mother has left him and he lives on a small boat. In order to survive he acquires the ¨drug dealing¨ service. At the end of the story, Chance reveals to his father the treacherous predicament he has landed himself in. His father may have been a screw up but he abided by one concept: Family. Arriving at his side immediately, He took out the boat knowing the explosives were on it. Chance’s dad was conscious of the fact that he was going to be killed doing this; he sacrificed his life. Your family can be exceptionally close, or as distant as outer space. At the end of the day, those are the people that will be there for you. Chance’s father had done nothing with his life but when Chance needed someone he was right there, willing to give up his life. Appreciate those that we love the most, is what this novel teaches us because you never know when you might lose them.The points the author makes are undisputably conspicuous. However, others obtain opinions that differ from the author’s and they too make several points. One opposing opinion I can grasp is the idea of the story being predictable and stereotypical. Like a knock-knock joke it is predictable and dull. I usually savor foreshadowing but the way the author applied it ruined the ending for me. Deuker what would have been a phantasmagorical idea and abolished its’ potential by hinting at it earlier on in the book. Another criticism I retain is the very stereotypical outline. The idea of a young kid getting taken advantage of while attaining a distraction from a girl who he must also protect reminds me of every story ever written! Don’t get me wrong I was captivated by the novel and enjoyed it greatly. I would have however appreciated a little more variety in the plot. tSetting this aside, the novel left me content and provided me with a new perspective on how to live. The game of life may throw uttermost variety of challenges your way. Deuker gives an array of different lessons we can learn from to overcome these challenges. While keeping thousands of readers from all over --attached to the book-- refusing to lay it down, like an enslaving drug. I am left an understanding, hopeful, informed, and grateful individual.
I picked this book because it seemed very interesting from the back of it. I mean, who doesn't love reading about things that get your heart beat racing. Well this book does that and I loved it. Yes, someone did recommend it to me in 8th grade, and I just got my hands on it. The setting of this book is on a boat in Seattle Washington with his dad. His dad is a drunk and the only thing he does is drink and hang out on the boat and they are very poor. I guess you could say that the story takes place all around Seattle because Chance delivers and does jobs all around Seattle. The Main conflict that Chance was facing was both internal and external because his dad was a job which was a problem because he had no money to buy groceries or anything because the only thing he did was sit on the boat, with no job and drink all day. So Chance had to do something to make money so he got started in a business. At first he didn't know what he was really delivering but after awhile he started to get clues. He was a drug smuggler. This job got all the money Chance needed to get his food and anything else he needed. Which caused another conflict which was internal this time. The conflict was it was so much pressure because if he messed up on a delivery he was going to get killed.I think that Chance is a Dynamic character because he changes dramatically to being a good teenager to a teenager who is a drug smuggler. So that's why I think that he is a Dynamic character in this story. I think the theme or message in this story is sometimes you have to fend for yourself or take care of yourself if someone that you need is not there to help you out, like Chance's dad. I think that because Chance had to do something to make money to buy himself food so he got a job, which wasn't the best job but you could say it "payed the bills." In this book, I do not really have a connection to my life. Because I don't really live in a bad town and there is not much drug smuggling so I can't really connect to the story in that way. Also I don't really have to life for myself. I have my parents to help me for now.Overall I thought this book was very very good. I think it taught a pretty good lesson besides that fact that he was a drug smuggler. But I would definitely read it again. And I would for sure recommend it to one of my friends because it was that good!
What do You think about Runner (2005)?
Runner by Carl Deuker is a about a boy named Chance Taylor. Chance Taylor is a senior in his high school and is living with his father on a boat. Now his dad is not in the best shape to support for neither him and his son chance. Chance father lost his job and chance is now working to support for both him and his dad. Just when everything is going wonder their is a unexpected turn and all ends shockingly. What I really like about this book is that the character is close to my age,but is also having the same dream as most teens about to leave for college.I loved how the author worded each situation with great detail. I also love how their was this part in the story where chance believed that the guy was trying to touch him. The first thing he shouts"don't you touch me you pervert" that was awesome how he reacted how the mood was set.A old guy asking about you watching you run and then coming into the showering room after you,setup perfectly. The book overall was a great 4 stars maybe even 5 stars but I wasn't able to fully experience the book, but I know it was a wonderful book with great qualities. I would recommend this book to majority of my friends and I would encourage them to read this book. With the way the book was setup and how it was layed out this book was a great addition to my group of read books.
—Naseer Karim
RunnerBy Carl DeukerChance Taylor is a teenager whose dad is a heavy drunk. They are very poor and they live on a small sailboat that can’t even sail. His dad lost his job and they have used up all of his welfare. His mom dad left them and never kept in touch.Chance really enjoyed running. He ran every day. He would run to a tree and back which was almost 7 miles. One day, he was going to the locker room to take a shower and a fat man stopped him. He offered him a job delivering mysterious packages. Chance suspected that it was some kind of drug. It paid 200 dollars a week which was more than enough to pay the mortgage. The question is, will he take it?This was a great book with lots of thrilling scenes. I really liked the plot of the story along with the characters. I really felt like you could connect to some of them in a lot of different ways. I would recommend this book to any teen that enjoys crime and thrillers. Overall this was a very good book.
—Michael Layer3
*** Spoiler alert***Please read at your own risk. This is a realistic fiction book with a good beginning middle and end. You will find lots of surprises in this book. So if you like suspense action and if you are patient then you are the right person to be reading this book.The setting starts out in a boat named “Tiny dancer” in which Chances father bought. He bought the boat because he divorced his wife. Chance goes to Lincoln high school. He hates the fact that he is homeless with his father. He gets a job to only run around the whole beach with a backpack. Unfortunately, there are drugs smuggled inside the backpack without Chance not knowing that. Then he quits the job because he eventually ends up finding out about the smuggling drugs inside the backpack situation. Chance is a young man who doesn’t find anything that funny. He’s serious most of the time. He likes cross country a lot and so does Melissa. Melissa is his only friend who he hangs out with most of the time. Chance has a crush on Melissa and she does as well but they don’t want to admit it until the end of the school year then that’s when Chance blurted out that he had a crush on Melissa. Chances dad is not that old and not that young mid 30’s. His dad is a tall man and he has a scruffy beard and he is always going to the bar.ttI can relate to the character because he’s serious most of the time and I’m kind of like Chance because I’m sometimes serious in a way. My favorite part is when Chance admits to Melissa how much he likes her. I like this part because he finally got something out of his chest. I was angry when Chance’s father told chance that they were going around the world in tiny dancer there boat. I was mad about this because Chances father kept lying to Chance instead of telling him the truth that they weren't going anywhere. An interesting thing I learned about this book is how some parents never really find good jobs because there always going to the bar and drinking and wasting time like Chance’s father. Runner is a good book title because the title goes with the story like when Chance runs with the backpack to earn money to pay for the bills and the food.In conclusion,I would recommend this book to people that like action suspense and a good story. so if your looking for a good story you have come to the right place.
—Jomaury
