Running On Empty

A.J. loves to run. He lives in London with his intellectually disabled parents and spends his free time running track with his grandfather. His grandfather is the center of the family and takes care of everyone. But when Grandad passes away, A.J. has to try harder and harder to keep up in school, try out for school track and take care of his parents. A.J. has an authentic tween voice. The British slang colors the setting but might confuse American juvenile readers. A fast relatable read for fans of kids overcoming family crisis and personal drama. Recommended for grades 5 and up.

Very gut wrenching book about a boy called C.J. who has 2 parents with learning difficulties and (I suspect) certain social anxiety disorders. All the bills and utilities were looked after by C.J's grandfather but now he has died and the burden of trying to keep the electricity and water on and go to school, now falls on C.J.s shoulders. To deal with the grief and the worry C.J. does what he and his grandfather always did - he runs. But soon his shoes are worn through and there is no money to buy new ones and he is too embarrassed to tell his PE teacher in case "welfare" come and take him away.
This is a very moving and powerful story of coping with life and death....how keeping things inside is not always the best course of action and show more how normal teenage angst can be exacerbated by other family dramas. Having parents who can't read and can barely work - CJ's mum stacks supermarket shelves at night and his Dad just does the gardening - compounds all the sorrow C.J. feels after his grandfather passes away.
Luckily...SPOILER ALERT...CJ has a bright teacher and an Aunty who work out what is going on and vow to help. show less