Run Marco Run

by Norma Charles

Ronsdale Press

978-1-55380-131-3

183 pp.

Ages12-17

2011

Marco has not done anything wrong, if you're thinking that's why he's running.  He's running because his father, James Graham, a journalist in Colombia, tells him to run while himself being kidnapped from a marketplace in Buenaventura.  Even though only thirteen, Marco knows the ins and outs of Buenaventura's criminal elements: its kidnappings of foreigners and journalists and their families, and corrupt police, drug cartels, and rebel groups.  His father, whose light skin distinguishes him as a gringo, is not silent about illegal or corrupt practices, making him an easy target.  Although Marco is Colombian-born and speaks Spanish more easily than English, he is vulnerable, without a mother now and the only child of a target.  So when his father cries out, "Run, Marco, run," he does just that.

Run Marco Run follows Marco in his quest first for safety and then for help in saving his father from potential death.  Although his mother's cousin, Aunt Rosa, and her children, Juan and Rosita, are family living in Buenaventura, asking for their help will only put them in danger.  So, when he finds refuge under a lifeboat on a ship heading for Vancouver, his father's former home, Marco latches onto the idea of getting help there, specifically from an influential international lawyer, Rolando Mendoza, who Marco's father had helped immigrate to Canada.

While Marco's decision to travel to Vancouver as a stowaway and the ensuing journey seem too implausible, Marco's introduction to Canada reads as legitimate as he suffers physical trauma, hunger and thirst, meets Canadians both helpful and scary, and experiences obstacles to his goal of finding Mr. Mendoza.  His suspicions of almost everything new (people, food, water) are clearly evident, though he acknowledges to himself his need to accept risks in order to have any hope of achieving his goal.

The legitimacy of Marco's need to help is father takes him on a very purposeful adventure, which middle grade readers will appreciate.  There are no awkward jumps from past to present and back again to confuse younger readers, or subplots that stray from Marco's desire to reunite with his father.  While Marco's voice may come across as awkward sometimes (for example, I don't know anyone who uses the word "hurray" anymore), and this may just be a reflection of his less-comfortable use of English, his need to find Mr. Mendoza as his father's only hope is convincing.

Norma Charles, author of The Girl in the Back Seat (Ronsdale Press, 2008) and Bank Job (Orca, 2009) with James Heneghan, has tackled some tough issues in her books: polygamy, peer pressure, foster children.  In addressing the vulnerability of foreigners and journalists, as well as the Buenaventura's criminal notoriety (Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada advises against all travel to the city of Buenaventura due to the "presence of illegal armed groups." Colombia Travel Report, Still Valid April 27, 2012), Run Marco Run provides young readers with a bona fide action-adventure while seeing their own country from another young person's perspective.

First Descent

Written by Pam Withers
Tundra Books
978-1-77049-257-8
262 pp.
Ages 12+
2011

In kayaking, making a First Descent refers to being the first to successfully get down a wild river.  It would be a milestone for any kayaker, but for seventeen-year-old Rex Scruggs it also means completing the first descent on Colombia's Furioso River, which his Gramps did not complete sixty years earlier. 

Studying his Gramps' journal from that expedition, Rex learns much about the river and the people, but also of his grandfather's prejudicial views, especially to the indigenous Colombians, the indígenas.   It's hard to imagine how important this first descent would be to Rex, considering how crotchety and miserable his grandfather is, especially since Rex and his mom moved from Montana to Alberta prior to his grandmother's death.  It's even harder to believe that Gramps agrees to provide the remaining funds needed for Rex's expedition.  With the proviso that Rex be accompanied by two experienced expeditionists (Henrique and Tiago) and that he attempt to make contact with the Calambás family (who had helped his Gramps), Rex is on his way.

A parallel story of Myriam Calambás, a seventeen-year-old indígena, illustrates the hardships of her Colombian community brutalized both by the paramilitary soldiers who were established to fight the guerillas and the guerillas who have turned from supporting the poor to besieging their communities.  Although the Colombian army has gained the advantage over both corrupt forces in much of the country, they have no control over the more remote areas of the indígenas peoples such as where Myriam's family lives on the Furioso River.  Just as Myriam's grandmother, Abuela, had encountered Rex's Gramps sixty years earlier, Myriam and Rex will have their paths cross, bringing confusion, compassion and ultimately enlightenment to both their lives and the lives they touch. 

Few young adult novels could be identified as adventures nowadays but First Descent is certainly one.  Rex's kayaking expedition is the obvious adventure, one he undertakes to prove something to himself as well as to his irascible grandfather.  Pam Withers' experience with extreme sports (see her website for her bio and book list) serves the reader well, evocatively depicting Rex's need for the adrenaline rush, mixed with his confidence, sometimes arrogance, but tempered with expertise.  I checked out some unrelated videos showing kayakers on first descents in Colombia which were harrowing and impossible to imagine surviving; capably, Pam Withers' text takes the reader along for just such a ride.

However, Myriam and members of her community also experience adventures but on a daily basis, whether it be getting to market to sell their wares or going to the river to wash clothes.  Each activity is a hazardous undertaking, as they anticipate encounters with deranged soldiers, land mines, and even chemicals broadcast from planes to kill the coca plant but also harming the people and their food sources.  Any such affront could precipitate injury or murder, theft or devastation, kidnapping or recruitment, or a complete massacre.  Pam Withers' acknowledgements recognize the vulnerability of indigenous people throughout the world and her commitment to contributing a portion of earnings from this book to organizations that work for these groups. Just as Rex ultimately recognizes the incongruity of undertaking a first descent expedition while the indigenous people of the area fight for survival, I was comforted to know that my purchase and enjoyment of this book may provide some assistance for the indígenas or similar groups, courtesy of Pam Withers.