No Place for Kids

Anne Hutchings, a former elementary-school teacher-librarian with the
Durham Board of Education, is an educational consultant.

Twelve-year-old Jen and her sister, 8- or 9-year-old Sarah, are on the
run—away from their neglectful, alcoholic father, his creepy buddy,
Wes, and the authorities, who, it is feared, will separate the siblings.
Their destination is Vancouver, where they hope to find their dead
mother’s sister, a school administrator. With the help of kind,
homeless Vi, Jen and Sarah make it from Winnipeg to Regina, where they
hide in and around a school while attempting to find the means to
continue their quest. Despite Jen’s strict instructions to the
contrary, Sarah confides their plight to a new friend, Krista.
Predictably, Krista can’t keep a secret and tells her father. Using
the Internet, Krista and her dad are able to locate Aunt Ellen, and Jen
and Sarah are rescued.

No Place for Kids undoubtedly has enough action and excitement to make
it appealing to junior grade children. However, it seems to glorify
running away as a solution to family problems. Though Jen and Sarah’s
journey had a happy ending, real-life runaways aren’t always so
fortunate. Unless the reading of this novel is accompanied by lots of
discussion focusing on alternative ways of dealing with problems, it
could be dangerous for some readers. Recommended with strong
reservations.