Runners - Hardcover

Skipper, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0744508002 ISBN 13: 9780744508000

Publisher: Viking, 1975

Synopsis

First Edition hardcover with unclipped dust jacket, in very good condition. 'Advance Information' letter laid in. Light shelf wear to the jacket, and page block and page edges are tanned. Pages are otherwise clear and unmarked throughout. LW

About this title

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-10 Although intelligent, 15-year- old Jim Taylor has slipped through the cracks of an indifferent society and be come a drifter. Underneath his cyni cism, though, he has a sense of con science and loyality which causes him to befriend Casey, a street kid who works as a gopher for the Collectivea black market syndicate trafficking in drugs. The two boys are hunted by the Collective after they inadvertently damage a computer disk containing the Syndicate's records. Their resourceful ness while on the run creates a sus penseful story that will grab the atten tion of even reluctant readers. After several close calls with men from the Collective, Casey decides to return home and destroy the Syndicate by bombing it. In a frantic effort to save his friend, Jim races to the Collective meeting only to find Casey seriously hurt. In anger, he attempts to set the bomb that Casey intended to explode, but his conscience prevails and he doesn't go through with it. The story ends with his hopeless feeling that run ning was the only answer, and that he must continue to run. There are several unrealistic situations and lapses in the plot, and readers may be put off by the lack of a concrete ending. However, the characters of Jim and Casey are sympathetically drawn, and the book is a page turner. Not an upbeat story, but entertaining nonetheless. Cynthia M. Sturgis, Ledding Library, Milwaukie, Oreg.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly

Jim Taylor, the narrator, is living with his grandmother in a rundown housing development in urban England. While picking up a record at the library, he inadvertently obtains a computer disk full of confidential information. This is the disk Casey, a street kid/messenger boy, is supposed to deliver to someone in the Mob-like Collective. Unfortunately for both, the disk is destroyed, and the two boys suddenly find themselves thrown together, running for their lives. They become further entangled until Casey decides to take definitive action against the Collectiveaction involving a trunk-load of explosives. The story is bolstered by Jim's exploration of moral dilemma and choices, told with an appealing blend of intelligence, pathos and off-beat humor. Skipper's first novel is fast-paced and thought-provoking. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Viking
• Publication date: 1975
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0744508002
• ISBN 13: 9780744508000
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 112