Raincoast Books
Available: 03/01/07
5 x 7.75 · 224 pages
978-1-55192-957-6 CDN $11.95 · pb

Ages 12 and up

Canadian Title

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Runnerland

John Burns

Huckleberry Finn meets The Outsiders with a modern, pop-culture twist in this story of a teenage runaway who goes underground.

Peter is a normal boy living a normal life—until his father dies suddenly. Then he accidentally discovers that he was adopted. Feeling betrayed, overwhelmed and confused, Peter runs away and finds himself living among street kids in a squat ruled by the dangerous yet charismatic Dekman.

Soon bored of panhandling, Peter finds himself blacking out and escaping to a psychedelic subconscious world he calls Runnerland. As real-life pressures mount, the borders between Runnerland and reality begin to blur, forcing Peter to make some hard choices and find answers to the questions that have been plaguing him. Can he escape Dekman’s gang? And if he does escape, what kind of home does he have to return to?

John Burns (Vancouver, British Columbia) is a well-known journalist and writer. He is the managing editor and the books columnist for Vancouver’s Georgia Straight and was a finalist for the Western Magazine Awards (2002 and 2005) and National Magazine Awards (2004). Burns is also a regular contributor and event host for CBC radio and CBC-related events such as CBC Radio Studio One Book Club. He co-authored Urban Picnic, a book of recipes.