A Heart In A Body In the World

Deb Caletti, a National Book Finalist for her earlier novel Honey, Baby, Sweetheart has crafted a masterpiece in this latest teen novel. Annabelle Agnelli has experienced a major trauma in her life, and has taken to running across country to escape her pain. The reader is not enlightened as to the exact nature of her trauma until the end of the novel, but the event leaves Annabelle with an emotionally damaged heart. It was an impulsive act, her decision to run from Seattle to Washington, D.C.; she just snaps one day in the parking lot of Dick’s Drive-in and bolts. But with her grandpa becoming her coach and mentor by following her in his RV each day, and her friends and younger brother who show their support for her with a GoFundMe page and by creating contacts in the various cities she will hit, Annabelle begins to believe that she may actually be able to complete this run. This novel is heartbreaking, but deals firmly with issues of  helplessness and depression against innocent victims of violence in today’s world, and is a must read for all.