Runaway Life

John McMillan was only eight years old when his mother died and he was ripped, without warning, from his sheltered world of books and gentility. Now on his aunt's run-down tenant farm in southern Alabama, abused by his alcoholic uncle, and completely bereft, John longs for escape--his only hope...

Runaway Girl: Aint No Love in the Streets is a great book that awares children about the dangers of sex trafficking. The narrative begins with a typical middle class family. Yolanda is a 12-year-old girl who experiences and unfortunate situation connecting with a stranger online.

At fifteen, Iris is a hobo of sorts - no home, no family, no plan. Her mother died when she was six, and her selfish father hires her out as a companion to a country doctor's elderly mother. Iris, stuck in the middle of 1920s rural Missouri, discovers that "hobo" is short for "homeward bound," and cultivates an eccentric cast of folks into family, creating the home she never had. But when she learns that a neighboring tenant farmer may have had more than his hands on his pregnant daughter, Iris must intervene to save the girl and her unborn baby.

At the age of 14, Francisco Jiménez, together with his older brother Roberto and his mother, are caught by la migra. Forced to leave their home, the entire family travels all night for 20 hours by bus, arriving at the U.S. and Mexican border in Nogales, Arizona. In the months and years that follow, Francisco, his mother and father, and his seven brothers and sister not only struggle to keep their family together, but also face crushing poverty, long hours of labor, and blatant prejudice.

A few months short of his 16th birthday, Danny runs away from home after a huge row with his Mom. After only four hours, everything he owns is stolen at a motorway service station. He is approached by Luke, a 19-year-old on a road trip, supposedly making a video diary. Luke has a huge car and plenty of money, and Danny likes him instantly. But Luke is not what he seems, and everywhere they go a mysterious trail of death follows them.

He's a vampire bad boy. She's a slayer's daughter who's never been kissed.

In this rousing coming-of-age story set on the American frontier, one ornery twelve-year-old has a lot to learn if he’s to survive his new life as a mountain man. Having run away after hitting Pa in a bout of rage, Jesse decides to fend for himself. Too much uncontrollable anger and inexplicable emotion since Ma went away have taken their toll. All he wants now is to be left alone. At first, every day on the mountain is a struggle.

What do you do with your last day on Earth? There are 27 hours and 15 minutes left until a meteor strikes North America, and for Emerson and everyone else who didn't leave, the world will end. But Emerson's world already ended when she ran away from home last year. Since then she has lived on the streets, relying on her wits and her friend, Vince, to help her find places to sleep and food to eat.

Your heart misleads you. That's what my friends and family say. But I love Noah. And he loves me. We met and fell in love in the sleepy farming community of Meadowview, while we rode our horses together through the grassy fields and in those moments in each other's arms.

Champion kickboxer Haley swore she'd never set foot in the ring again after one tragic night. But that all changes when the guy she can't stop thinking about accepts a mixed martial arts fight in her honor. West Young is everything Haley promised herself she'd stay away from: handsome, sexy, and full of attitude.West is keeping a big secret from Haley. He hasn't told her who he really is, and helping her - fighting for her - is a shot at redemption, especially since his family is falling apart and it's all his fault.

In December 1850, the dark hours before dawn make 12-year-old Patrick O’Connell shiver. He lives with his mother and older sister in a wet and drafty shack. Patrick has been the man of the family ever since Da, his father, sailed from Ireland to America. But now he has a problem he can’t solve: there isn’t enough money to pay the rent.

"Jess is dead, and it's my fault". Anna Macbeth has spent her whole life trying to escape from her past. She left the rural Yorkshire village where she grew up for life as a family lawyer in London, but what secrets did she take with her? When a familiar voice telephones her with tragic news, Anna knows that running away is no longer an option, and that she has to return to face her demons. What led Anna to flee from her home, and what is it that causes her to return? Charcoal unfolds a dramatic sequence of events that demonstrate the consequences of desires.

No one knows where the brilliant-colored spheres came from. One day they were just there, hidden all over the Earth like huge gemstones. Burn a pair, and they make you a little better: an inch taller, skilled at math, better looking. The rarer the sphere, the greater the improvement - and the more expensive the sphere.

Popular author Sarah Dooley offers this tale in which a 12-year-old girl loses everything. Ember’s family’s trailer has been burned to the ground. Now, with the school year about to start, Ember’s family has no money and no place to live. Ember knows she needs to make a fresh start - but with all that’s happened, is this even possible?

A Hindi translation of Ruskin Bond’s Rusty Runs Away by Neelabh, this is the second book in the series that vividly conjures up the world of Rusty and his friends. Penned for young audiences, the book traces Rusty’s life as he enters his teenage years. The excitement and adventure of adolescent life take the young protagonist through a series of intriguing incidents. Still dealing with the passing away of his father and grandmother, he conspires to run away from boarding school with his mischievous friend Daljeet.

When Charlene’s father calls from jail, her life turns upside down. She moves from her beautiful home in Nebraska to inner-city Cleveland, Ohio, overnight. Now homeless, Charlene, her sister Cheyanne, and mother move into her judgmental aunt’s three-bedroom home on the Southeast Side with her seven cousins. She learns to live with roaches, switching schools every couple of months, visiting her father in prison, and keeping the family secret.

The war has begun. The Dragons are gaining power, and the Gray Clan stands alone. Desperate to find a way to stop the Pendragon, Emilia is forced to seek answers from someone who hasn't been seen in 17 years. Her mother. Embarking on a magical journey filled with witches, wizards, centaurs and a dangerous and powerful siren, Jacob and Emilia must take a leap of faith to a land neither could have ever imagined...and hope they can find their way home.

The eyes of a demented arsonist have focused in on the small town of Farmington, Connecticut. Brock Pearson, the new director of Laborers for God, has more on his plate than he can chew as private homes and businesses are becoming engulfed faster than his ministry can possibly rebuild. Blazing properties form only a small part of the equation in this intriguing, clean mystery. The Pearson household has recently added a new member to their ranks - a runaway named Titus who brings a wealth of surprises to the table, including a quickly developing crush on their pastor’s granddaughter.

As he prepares to recite the Declaration of Independence before his eighth grade social studies class in California, the thing Francisco has feared for 10 years finally happens. La migra, the immigration police, come to his classroom and pick him up for deportation to Mexico. Soon back in the United States with a "green card", Francisco struggles through adolescence, working two or three jobs a day and striving to excel at school.

In a dying country town lives Satchel O'Rye, a young man fighting the future; Chelsea Piper, a young woman fighting the past; and a long-lost creature that can teach them both the art of survival. Stripes of the Sidestep Wolf is a shimmering, ultimately joyful novel, a story of journeying towards courage and freedom, of finding the will to live a life beyond expectation.