A 2019 Batchelder Honor Book
2021 Global Literature in Libraries Translated YA Book Prize
Shortlist
From one of Italy's favorite authors of young adult literature comes a
gripping, true-to-life thriller of a Sicilian boy's fight to survive
after his family is torn apart by the Mafia.
A talented young runner, Santino lives in Palermo, Sicily--a beautiful
region of Italy that's dominated by the Mafia. With Santino's first
communion approaching, his father and grandfather carry out a theft to
pay for the party--but they steal from the wrong people. A young, cocky
Mafioso summons them to a meeting, and they bring the boy. As Santino
wanders off into the old abandoned neighborhood, he hears shots and runs
back to see two armed men and his father and grandfather slumped over in
the car. The boy barely escapes with his life. Now, he's left with a
choice: cooperate with police and be a "rat," or maintain Omertà the
code of silence.
Twelve-year-old Lucio lives in the northern Italian city of Livorno and
dreams of sailing when not taking care of his his young sister, Ilaria,
and his sick mother, who is convinced that a witch has cursed her. One
day, Lucio's mother goes missing and he receives a mysterious text:
"Come to Palermo. Mamma is dying." Panicked, Lucio grabs Ilaria and
rushes to Sicily, where Lucio's and Santino's stories converge with
explosive results.
Inspired by a real-life Mafia episode, Silvana Gandolfi's Run for Your
Life is a powerful survival story of young people finding the courage
to do the right thing when faced with the cruel realities of the adult
world.
