Running With Angels
Purelight Reflections
| Running With Angels by Robbie Haden with Jennifer Farmer |
Meet Haley-Jo Bodine, a teenager who is faced with the pressures
of growing up. She shares her adventures when she hits the road of
life a little too soon. Haley-Jo tells her heart-wrenching story in
her own voice. Be with her as she experiences the same risks that
many teens face today. See and feel her come to life and celebrate
in her triumph as she meets her angels along the way.
of growing up. She shares her adventures when she hits the road of
life a little too soon. Haley-Jo tells her heart-wrenching story in
her own voice. Be with her as she experiences the same risks that
many teens face today. See and feel her come to life and celebrate
in her triumph as she meets her angels along the way.
From the introduction:
My name is Haley Bodine. No, it's actually Haley-Jo Bodine. In the
normal world (anywhere that's not Texas) people get a first name
and a middle name. In Texas you are likely to get two names stapled
into one by that hyphenator thing. Jeez, did my mother hate me from
the get go?
I've been writing about my stupid life since I could hold a pencil. I
write my stories in little discount-store notebooks. These aren't like
diaries or journals since they don't pay much attention to dates, or
record things every day. They're just bits of my life that I write down.
Sometimes I have to write them the instant something happens, and
sometimes I wait and think and remember for a long time before I
write them. They are just me, thinking on paper.
My name is Haley Bodine. No, it's actually Haley-Jo Bodine. In the
normal world (anywhere that's not Texas) people get a first name
and a middle name. In Texas you are likely to get two names stapled
into one by that hyphenator thing. Jeez, did my mother hate me from
the get go?
I've been writing about my stupid life since I could hold a pencil. I
write my stories in little discount-store notebooks. These aren't like
diaries or journals since they don't pay much attention to dates, or
record things every day. They're just bits of my life that I write down.
Sometimes I have to write them the instant something happens, and
sometimes I wait and think and remember for a long time before I
write them. They are just me, thinking on paper.
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From page 27:
"I've come about the helper job," I say, taking back my hands. "My
name is Haley-Jo Bodine. I'm a very responsible for a teen-ager." I
see no point in telling her this new responsibleness has been forced
upon me by some unpleasant circumstances.
Lotsa dog poop?"
"Oh," I say. "No experience there, but at this point I can honestly
say that poop doesn't scare me." (I'm thinking to myself, what's one
more kind of poop in an already really poopy life, anyway?)
"I've come about the helper job," I say, taking back my hands. "My
name is Haley-Jo Bodine. I'm a very responsible for a teen-ager." I
see no point in telling her this new responsibleness has been forced
upon me by some unpleasant circumstances.
Lotsa dog poop?"
"Oh," I say. "No experience there, but at this point I can honestly
say that poop doesn't scare me." (I'm thinking to myself, what's one
more kind of poop in an already really poopy life, anyway?)
From page 103:
There were weathered benches spread widely along the walkway,
and Haley-Jo welcomed the chance to sit down on one of them.
She put her backpack on the seat beside her, sat, drew her knees
up to her chin, and huddled into her sweatshirt, grateful for the
coherent thought, she had dressed herself in extra tee shirts, some
coherent thought, she had dressed herself in extra tee shirts, some
wildly striped ones, and she'd stuffed her sock-fat feet into the red
high-top sneakers. Those socks and sneakers hadn't been on her
feet since the day she'd run from Cassandra's car, when she was
pretending to be the nice kid who was looking forward to getting
acquainted with the other nice kids housed at a shelter for
juveniles.
There were weathered benches spread widely along the walkway,
and Haley-Jo welcomed the chance to sit down on one of them.
She put her backpack on the seat beside her, sat, drew her knees
up to her chin, and huddled into her sweatshirt, grateful for the
coherent thought, she had dressed herself in extra tee shirts, some
coherent thought, she had dressed herself in extra tee shirts, some
wildly striped ones, and she'd stuffed her sock-fat feet into the red
high-top sneakers. Those socks and sneakers hadn't been on her
feet since the day she'd run from Cassandra's car, when she was
pretending to be the nice kid who was looking forward to getting
acquainted with the other nice kids housed at a shelter for
juveniles.
Haley-Jo is such a strong-willed character and is a typical teenager
trying to find herself. As she embarks on life alone in a new
environment she tackles each obstacle simply as any teenager would.
Her strength and perseverance is incredible, and Robbie Haden and
Jennifer Farmer did an amazing job at capturing it. I found it very
difficult to pull my eyes away from the book and each part being
written differently helped make it flow. I loved Running With Angels
and I can't wait to make all my friends read it.
High School Senior and host of "An Audience of One", Rae Quigley