From School Library Journal
Grade 7-9-Long years of neglect with her drug-addicted mother have left Natalie, 14, emotionally distant, willing herself to need no one while enduring recurrent dreams in which she is nonhuman and powerless. Temporarily living with loving and stable foster parents, the teen begins to use her ability as a runner, takes tentative steps to connect with the caring people around her, and realizes that her ambivalent feelings toward her mother include love. Natalie's first-person narrative is filled with dialogue, short sentences, and bursts of emotion. Memories pepper present events, allowing readers to understand the protagonist more fully without slowing the story. The writing style, together with the book's trim length and large type, makes this a good choice for reluctant readers. Despite minor flaws, including too readily resolved friction between Natalie and a foster sister, this is a highly readable first novel.
Faith Brautigam, Gail Borden Public Library,Elgin, ILCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 5-8. Thirteen-year-old Natalie Wills, a foster child, has been removed from her drug-addicted mother's care and placed first in a group home and then with the Parkers, a caring family determined to make Natalie's life a bit better. But Natalie is both a cynic and a realist; she knows her new, peaceful life is only temporary. Eventually Mom will convince yet another social worker that she is clean and wants her daughter back. All that Natalie can control is her running, a skill that allows her to escape, not lingering long enough to get close to anyone at home or at school. This first novel is a foster-child story with a twist. The Parker family is loving and sincere in trying to help Natalie; and she, in turn, gradually--very gradually--responds. Yet the underlying truth of a child's deep need and longing for her mother, regardless of Mom's ability to parent, is always present and unresolved. While the book is hopeful, it is tinged with resignation, feelings readers will understand and appreciate.
Frances BradburnCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved