7.2 /10 1 Votes7.2
Language English Pages 165 Genre Fiction Country United States of America | 3.6/5 Goodreads Publication date May 1995 Originally published May 1995 Page count 165 Publisher HarperCollins | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (hardback & paperback) Similar Frances Temple books, Fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Grab Hands and Run is a fictional adaptation of a true story written by Frances Temple. The book is written at a fourth grade level aimed at audiences aged 8 to 10. The author is actually involved in the story as she once sheltered the refuges the book writes about.
Contents
Plot details
The story focuses on the 12-year-old Felipe and his younger sister Romy who flee from the difficult political situation in El Salvador because their father, Jacinto, has disappeared. The family had previously developed a contingency plan for such an event which called for them to flee to Canada, which they do through Guatemala, Mexico and the United States. The book focuses on the children having to learn not to provoke the anger of government officials and other people in power. As their trip progresses they realize how precious a home and an intact family are. They finally reach Canada but they find out from a religious man that their father was killed.
Eventually they all meet in Canada.
Reception
Kirkus Reviews found Grab Hands and Run "Well wrought, authentic, and compelling." while Publishers Weekly saw that "Temple's characters are wholly credible" and "Temple's novel may well lead the curious to research the country and politics that inspired her fictional account."