Running on the Cracks

By Julia Donaldson and Andy Arnold

Run. Keep running. You’re doing the right thing.

Lie low. Head down. Don’t look back. Just keep running,

but whatever you do don’t tread on the cracks…

Leo’s world has been turned upside down. With her parents gone and a creepy uncle becoming too close for comfort she’s certainly sure of one thing…she must get out. Leo’s on the run. She knows what she’s running from. The problem is, where is she running to?

Adapted from the novel of the same name by the internationally acclaimed writer Julia Donaldson, Running on the Cracks is a fast-moving new play about runaways, identity, survival and how friendships can develop in the strangest situations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Release date: Oct 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781783198696

Julia Donaldson

Julia Donaldson has written some of the world's best-loved children's books, including modern classics The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child, which together have sold over 25 million copies worldwide and have been translated into over one hundred languages. Her other books include Room on the Broom, Stick Man and Zog, illustrated by Axel Scheffler, The Hospital Dog, illustrated by Sara Ogilvie and the hugely successful What the Ladybird Heard adventures, illustrated by Lydia Monks. Julia also writes fiction, including the Princess Mirror-Belle series, illustrated by Lydia Monks, as well as poems, plays and songs – and her brilliant live shows are always in demand. She was the UK Children’s Laureate 2011–13 and has been honoured with a CBE for Services to Literature. Julia and her husband Malcolm divide their time between West Sussex and Edinburgh.

Reviews for Running on the Cracks

[atreic · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Julia Donaldson - the author famous for the Gruffallo and Zog, adorable rhyming picture books aimed at preschoolers - has written a grim young adult novel about running away from home, sexual abuse, death of parents, mental illness, and being disowned by your family. So if the lure for you is the famous name, the book you're getting is not going to be the feel you're expecting! Still, it's a good pacy story with a wide range of characters.Leo has been orphaned, and after a few months living with her creepy uncle, decides to run away in search of her grandparents (who disapproved of her father's marriage and don't know she exists). She ends up taken in by a mentally ill Glaswegian lady, and makes friends with the local paperboy. Full marks for avoiding the obvious 'there is a boy and a girl, they become Friends only on the way to being More Than Friends' story - they are friends and help each other, and he is interested in other people.The plot only works because of some happy coincidences, but none of them feel impossible, even if they do feel very well timed. (Definitely no worse than Jane Eyre for that!)