Run Away with Me

Gr 8 Up–In Rome for the summer of 1986, 16-year-old American Danny is left to explore on his own as his mother, a librarian, diligently works at a museum and book conservancy whose precise history has been lost in the mists of time. Danny feels an unexplained presence pushing him around the city and at last meets Angelo, a heavenly and mysterious curly-haired Italian boy who insists he is 2,738 years old. Wandering the city together, they share stories, uncover secrets, and fall desperately in love. Pages of Selznick’s intricate pencil line drawings serve as bookends to his lyrical prose. From the novel’s ethereal cover to the realistic but dreamlike spreads within, Selznick’s art effectively captures both the story’s setting and sense of profound, wistful longing. Readers will be as drawn to Danny’s bashful curiosity and Angelo’s charismatic charm as the boys are to each other, avidly following Danny as he counts down his remaining days in Rome, and with Angelo.