A Time To Run

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Description

Stuart can run like the wind.  It’s a skill that has come in handy for him all his life.  Born with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), Stuart has learned to run away from all kinds of trouble – at least, if he can recognize it.  Sometimes it’s hard for him to know when a friend really is a friend or when he’s just bad news.

Sam is a basketball player destined to play on a university varsity team until he is sidelined by a dangerous heart condition.  After losing the one thing that centres his world, Sam focuses his energy on helping his Best Buddy, Stuart, make the school track-and-field team.

But first, both Stuart and Sam must come to understand that there is a time to run and a time to stay where they belong.

Details

  • Page Count: 201 pp
  • Format: PB and e-book
  • Publisher: Clockwise Press
  • ISBN:9781988347097
  • Categories: Children and YA Fiction
  • Age Range: 11+
“A Time To Run is another heartwarming story by Lorna Schultz Nicholson. I highly recommend it to tween and teen readers, adults, educators and to anyone who enjoys books that foster diversity, hope and sympathy.”
Karen Spafford-Fitz

Children’s author of Saving Grad and former junior high teacher

Reviews

CM Magazine - May 2018

“One of the strengths of “A Time to Run” is the voice. The perspective changes back and forth from Stuart to Sam, and the individual characters speak in very specific, distinct voices. Stuart’s is especially interesting; short, choppy sentences reflect his impulsive nature and give him a childish quality, despite his age of fourteen. Longer, rambling sentences let readers into his jumbled thoughts. The changeover to Sam’s perspective in alternating chapters is smooth but distinct. His chapters show more reflection and successfully display the inner thoughts of a teenage boy who is in the middle of a huge life upheaval.

Everything in the story is believable; the clear and linear plot allows the focus to remain on the characters, and that’s where the real value is in this novel. Nicholson’s characters are familiar and relatable, but rarely stereotypical. Sam’s love interest is an athletic and level-headed girl, and his interest in her isn’t connected to her beauty—in fact, his first description of her describes her as “sweaty”. It’s refreshing to see one fictional character notice another based on personality traits as opposed to appearance.”

Kirkus Reviews - July 2018

“The latest in the author’s One-2-One series (inspired by a real program that matches students with intellectual disabilities with their neurotypical peers), the story of Stuart and Sam’s friendship is sweetly and sensitively told. Both characters are white; Stuart’s adoptive family is black, while Sam’s family immigrated from Bosnia. The book’s best scenes feature the friends together as Stuart strives to make the track-and-field team, and the relationship between the boys is presented authentically.”