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Hello everyone and welcome back to the blog! Today is my spot in the “The Art of Running Away” Blog Tour organized by TBR & Beyond and I have a review, a playlist and my favorite quotes ready for you.
DISCLAIMER: A review copy of this book has been sent to me in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own and I have in no way been influenced to write a positive review.
And now without further ado, let’s start with this post!
Twelve-year-old Maisie is an artist. When she’s in front of her sketchbook or apprenticing at Glenna’s Portraits, the family-run art shop her grandmother started, the world makes sense. She doesn’t think about Calum, her brother who mysteriously left home and cut ties with her family six years ago, or her parents’ insistence that she “broaden her horizons” and try something new—something that isn’t art.
But when Glenna’s Portraits falls on hard times, Maisie’s plan to take over the shop when she’s older and become a lifelong artist starts to crumble. In desperation to make things right, Maisie runs away to London to reconnect with her adult brother, hoping he might be the key to saving the shop. But as Maisie learns about her family’s past from Calum, she starts to rethink everything she’s ever known. Maisie must decide not only if saving her family’s art shop is worth it, but if she can forgive her parents for the mistakes they’ve made.
Title – The Art of Running Away
Author – Sabrina Kleckner
Genre – Middle Grade Contemporary
Release date – November 16th, 2021
Maisie has one thing in her world that is the most important to her: her parents’ studio. She even wants to take it over when she’s grown up. However, not everything is going according to plan. She has to spend the holidays in Scotland with an aunt she doesn’t even know, and she makes a shocking discovery. Someone from her past is back, and she struggles with everything that she learns about her family and her life.
I feel like I’ve been reading so many middle grade novels recently, and I don’t understand why I’ve never read MG in the past because I’ve enjoyed all of these in the past few months. The Art of Running Away has beautiful writing and again there is an important lesson about love, friendship and family that this novel and Kleckner give to the reader.
I won’t be able to tell you more about the book without giving it all away. Nevertheless, be prepared for some emotional content next to the funny scenes that you’re also able to discover in this book. If you want a quick read and a book that will make you feel better after a long day, then “The Art of Running Away” might be your next read. In my opinion, this is also the perfect read for a more mature audience.
Favorite Quotes:
“[…]the most personal thing about this room is the sign on the door that reads in jagged writing Get Out.”
“I don’t feel consumed by art. I m art. […] I want to paint. I love that about myself. It’s what makes me special.”
“He’d rather spend a few hours painting away his frustrations than face a confrontation head-on. It’s infuriating.”
“Did you have a secret one I somehow killed, and now you’re mad at me? I didn’t mean to kill your fake secret cat.”
“”That’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever said, and you’ve said a lot of things.””
“You are of course the best person in the universe, so without you I will be an anguished blob in my bed all summer. Except I won’t have time to be an anguished blob,[…]”
“Can you imagine me? Doing tennis? With, like, that big fly swatter thing and everything?””
“She purposely wears the wrong shoes to gym class every day so she doesn’t have to participate. Picturing her sprinting up and down – sweating her eyes out and cursing under her breath – is hilarious.”
“”Parrots” is more specific than look for the middle-aged woman with brown hair.”
“[…]overwhelming floral perfume and enthusiasm that makes my ribs scream.”
“I scream because ohmygod I’ve been in this country for twenty minutes and I’ve already killed a thing, and it’s eye popped out,[…|”
Sabrina Kleckner is the author of THE ART OF RUNNING AWAY, a middle grade contemporary novel about family and identity. She began writing at the age of twelve, and is grateful to not be debuting with the angsty assassin book she toiled over in her teens. When she is not writing, she can be found teaching ESL or gushing about her three cats to anyone who will listen.
Social Links:
If you want to follow the tour, HERE is the Tour Schedule.
DISCLAIMER: A review copy of this book has been sent to me in exchange for an honest review. I haven’t been influenced!
Thanks to TBR & Beyond for the spot on this Tour!
