![]() ![]() Still, readers will be drawn to Holly as she shifts between her search for a safe place to live, her anger at the foster care system and her reflections on the circumstances that led up to her mother's overdose. Van Draanen's (the Sammy Keyes series) portrayal of Holly's situation is gravely realistic, though some of Holly's entries seem too perfectly written for a poorly educated 12-year-old. Holly's diary entries, which include poetry, unspool as ongoing conversations with Ms. Sammie introduces Holly to two women (mother and daughter) who eventually become the family Holly has been longing for. ![]() Constantly moving from place to place, Holly is caught off guard when Sammie, from the soup kitchen, offers help. ![]() She ran a 400 m race in 55 seconds flat during her last meet, but now it takes her five minutes to move 20 feet. A vehicle crashed into her bus after a track meet and she is now missing one of her legs below the knee. Evans, Holly runs away, eventually making her way to California. In The Running Game by Wendelin Van Draanen, Jessica is hospitalized after an accident. Leone, who gives Holly the journal ("It'll help you turn the page"). Evans accuse her of lying, stealing and drug use, then, as punishment, lock Holly in the laundry room for days. Holly has already thwarted the sexual advances of one foster father and now, living with the Evans, things aren't any better. Through her journal entries, 12-year-old Holly Janquell reveals her experiences living in foster homes since her mother died of a drug overdose two years ago. ![]()
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