Run, Pip, Run (J C Jones, A&U)

When you’re not quite a teenager, some books have the ability to shape you and to shake you. Classics such as Cynthia Voight’s Homecoming and Judy Blume’s Blubber tackled powerful themes like abandonment and bullying. For younger readers these themes can be challenging and confronting, but (to me at least) the characters always seemed a little bit older. In Run, Pip, Run, the main character Pip is just 10 years old. She’s homeless and on the run from Child Protective Services and the police. It’s serious stuff. Throw in two near abductions, and I wonder whether kids aged eight to 12 (which is the designated readership) need to be reminded that the world can be such a tough place, even if the author conveys it in a fairly flippant voice at times. Saying that, Pip is quite a likeable character and shows resourcefulness and determination. Perhaps this book might strike a chord with readers who have been in trouble themselves or act as a warning to others. Author J C Jones has left the ending open for a possible sequel—hopefully when Pip is older and the situation a bit more believable.

Katie Haydon is a former assistant editor of Books+Publishing and a freelance reviewer