Run

May 30, 2016
Keplinger (Lying Out Loud) explores the unlikely friendship between two girls: Agnes Atwood, who has a genetic condition that has left her legally blind, and Bo Dickinson, a member of the most notorious (and most maligned) family in a small Kentucky town full of gossips. Alternating between Bo and Agnes's perspectives, Keplinger tells this story backward and forwardâBo's chapters take place in the present, as Agnes and Bo skip town in the middle of the night, while Agnes's start at the beginning of their friendship, revealing the local reputation of the Dickinsons and how the two girls met and became close. Keplinger creates strong, distinct personalities for the girls through their first-person narratives; that readers never get Agnes's thoughts about being with Bo as they flee police is the story's main weakness. Agnes and Bo may share equal space on the page, but this is primarily Bo's story, with Agnes left explaining Bo's circumstances. This, along with the drawn-out mystery behind Bo's reasons for running, tends to frustrate the story's tension rather than build suspense. Ages 14âup. Agent: Joanna Volpe, New Leaf Literary & Media.

March 15, 2016
Two small-town Kentucky high school girls run away together. Bo, whose voice narrates the story going forward from the night they steal Agnes' sister's car, is a sober bisexual virgin who's widely considered the school slut. Most of her family members are drunk or in jail, her father ran off, and her mother's addicted to meth. Agnes, whose voice in alternate chapters narrates the story in flashback from the beginning of her friendship with Bo, is legally blind from birth and chafing at the restrictions her well-meaning but hardly adventurous family puts upon her. She also drinks beer and has had sex with Bo's cousin. The two narratives come at each other from a distance, then cross in a way that drains some of the tension out of the conflict: by the time readers understand the reason for the white girls' sudden departure, they also know that Bo has made promises she never intended to keep, which puts the entire escapade in an uncomfortable light. A pat ending feels tacked-on, but Bo and Agnes' unlikely friendship rings true and strong. Agnes can see lights and shadows, and she is competent at navigating familiar areas with the help of a cane; she can read with heavy magnifiers. Her blindness never feels stereotyped, nor does the sense of small-town suffocation. An ambitiously structured road-trip novel stumbles a bit but gets a lot right. (Fiction. 14-18)

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July 1, 2016

Gr 7 Up-Everyone in town knows who Bo is-one of those Dickinsons, nothing but trouble. Everyone in town knows who Agnes is-an innocent blind girl, obedient daughter, an angel from heaven. When they become friends, both teens prove everyone wrong. Told alternately from two different perspectives and points in the narrative, this realistic novel is a strong entry in the tradition of unlikely friendship books. Bo and Agnes have unearned reputations and expectations that stifle them in their small town and will resonate with readers with and without disabilities, from large communities and small. The portrayal of Agnes's blindness is well crafted, less about what she can and can't do and more about others' expectations. The depiction of typical blindness, rather than the dramatic full-dark blindness that is more often presented in literature, is very welcome, as are Agnes's mixed feelings about her accommodations and her parents' advocacy. Bo's experiences are somewhat more familiar to readers of YA literature but are well explored as well. Neither protagonist seems to be there to prop up the story of the other. Rather, both are fully realized characters on their own concurrent journeys. VERDICT A good unlikely friendship story with compelling characters and a nuanced portrait of disability and small-town life.-L. Lee Butler, Hart Middle School, Washington, DC

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2016
Grades 9-12 Everyone in Mursey, including legally blind Agnes, knows that the Dickinsons are bad newsthey are a family full of deadbeats and addicts. Maybe it's because she has always been sheltered due to her blindness, but Agnes is more curious than wary when Bo Dickinson hurtles into her life. Against all odds, the two girls form a close friendship, relying on each other as their lives intensify: Agnes' anxious parents assert increasing amounts of control over her, while Bo fears being sent to a foster home due to her mother's meth addiction. When her mother is arrested, Bo thinks her only option is to run, and Agnes has no intention of letting her go alone. Told in alternating viewpointsAgnes in the past, Bo in the presentthis is a carefully crafted portrayal of small-town life and deep female friendship. There's plenty to recommenda bisexual character, and a frank, consequence-free first sexual experiencethough the most effective thing here remains Agnes' and Bo's voices and the strength of their realistically tumultuous relationship. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Keplinger's The DUFF (2010), now a movie, was a huge hit. Her latest employs many of the same tactics: a timely, edgy plot, distinct character voices, and a solid depiction of friendship.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)