The Prison Runner

by Deborah Ellis | Teens |
ISBN: 019275548X Global Overview for this book
Registered by Sherlockfan of Upper Hutt, Wellington Province New Zealand on 10/11/2014
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2 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by Sherlockfan from Upper Hutt, Wellington Province New Zealand on Saturday, October 11, 2014
I have not graded Junior fiction before so having to judge by other than what the book said to me - it said a lot, and informed me in the nicest possible way about things of which I knew nothing.
Summary from "booksforkeeps"
Deborah Ellis’s latest exploration of the lives of poor young people in the developing world takes her, for the first time, to the South American continent, and to Bolivia. Diego lives with his mum and sister in the San Sebastian’s Women’s Prison. He goes to school every day outside the prison and also earns pocket money, as a ‘Taxi’, running errands in the city for the women prisoners. When he and his mother get into trouble with the prison inmates committee because Diego has failed to look after his sister properly, he is tempted by his friend Mando into a scheme to make quick money in the country. He and Mando are taken to the forest, with three other boys who are out of their heads from glue sniffing, and brutally used as labourers in the production of coca paste, the crude form of cocaine, treading coca leaves in pits. Ellis’s spare colloquial style, her narrative drive and her empathy with her central character once more produce a fast moving, gripping, and thought provoking story. Both the prison and the forest are vividly described. Only Smith, the American boss of the drug operation, a Vietnam veteran and ex-mercenary, strikes a slightly off key note, suggesting that Ellis wants to make obvious that it’s not Bolivians who ultimately profit from the drug trade. On the other hand, Smith’s belief that clever, tough and defiant Diego might be of the right stuff to rise in the organisation does suggest how, when opportunities are limited, even the best may turn to the worst. But that’s not for Diego, whose sense of justice is as strong as his self-interest. Mando dies in an escape attempt and, tracked through the forest by Smith, Diego sees his tormentor die in quicksand, then finds refuge with a peasant family of coca growers in the hills. There is at least one sequel to follow, called The Sacred Leaf, which, if its title is anything to go by, may give more explanation of the place of the coca leaf in Bolivian society and its relationship with the cocaine trade.

Journal Entry 2 by Sherlockfan at Upper Hutt, Wellington Province New Zealand on Tuesday, November 11, 2014
This was a very interesting book - from reading it I learned a lot about cocaine production and the exploitation of young innocent lads.

Deborah Ellis seems to be a very good writer and knows the minds of youngsters well.

Journal Entry 3 by Sherlockfan at Chicago Bar in Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Released 9 yrs ago (11/11/2014 UTC) at Chicago Bar in Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

If you are new to BookCrossing and find this book and this site; welcome! Enjoy the site, the book and hopefully the BookCrossing community. I hope you'll join BookCrossing (doesn't cost anything to join!) and if you do, please consider using me, Sherlockfan, as the member who referred you. If you are an old hand at BookCrossing, thanks for picking up the book! Either way, I hope you'll journal so all the future readers can track this book's journey and learn what you thought of it. Thanks, and Happy Crossing!

Journal Entry 4 by fee19 at Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Picked up at the Wellington monthly meetup on 11 November 2014.

Journal Entry 5 by fee19 at Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Really enjoyed this YA novel. How does she know so much about drug-production in Columbia? Well-written from the boy's point of view.
I will pass it on to a Canadian friend in Malta, so who knows where it will end up!

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