Run

Deborah Dowson is a Canadian children’s librarian living in Powell,
Ohio.

Winston has been skipping school, running away from home, and becoming
increasingly distant. His mother insists that he spend some time with
his father, who has been less and less involved in Winston’s life
since the divorce. Winston accompanies his dad on an assignment to
report on a story about a young man with one leg who is attempting to
run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. Winston and his
father accompany Terry Fox and his friend Doug Alward for several days,
and have a chance to witnesses their effort, determination, commitment,
and achievement as well as their boredom, pain, conflict, and
frustration. Winston and his father are changed by their encounter with
these incredible young men.

Eric Walters creatively presents the factual details of Terry Fox’s
run within a fictional framework that allows the young reader to relate
to the Terry Fox story in an intimate and personal way. The gritty
details of life on the road help create a picture of Terry not only as
an image of hope, but as a very real and human person, and that is what
underscores just how courageous and heroic he was. Along with this
touching story, Walters includes additional facts and a history of the
journey. This exceptional book will bring the Terry Fox story to life
for schoolchildren who are familiar with the name, but may not fully
understand how extraordinary he was—the person who ran a “marathon
of hope.” Highly recommended.