The Runaway

Leroy “Doodlebug” Barnstable’s life has been “as steady as telephone poles along a highway” until his fifteenth year, when his parents’ car accident lands him under the guardianship of cousins who overwork, cheat and mistreat him. Leroy runs away, finding friendship, work and a hideout with actors, lecturers and musicians who travel a rural circuit offering a mix of entertainment and education known as a Chautauqua Show. Leroy parlays his doodling talent into a career and falls in love under the big top, but trouble threatens from a vengeful cousin, a rival for his sweetheart and a thug whose dealings with his sweetheart’s father are less than amicable.

A winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award, author Glen Huser has created a fast-paced, enjoyable story, the setting of which gives an organic history lesson about the Chautauqua Shows, a movement that spanned the 1880s to the 1920s. An author’s note and a few reference titles provide further reading on the Chautauqua. Huser has a flair for 1920s lingo and for painting minor characters with a few well-chosen observations. The generic title and uninspiring cover art (disappointing, considering that Leroy is a gifted doodler) are the only weaknesses, though serious ones, considering the way many readers choose books.

This slim novel could be enjoyed as a read-aloud in a classroom for ages 9-12 or as independent reading. A media studies class might investigate an assertion made in the novel that movies and radio (and other popular media) lose something compared with the immediateness and communal experience of the Chautauqua performance.

After Leroy’s parents die, he is left to live with his aunt and her two sons. Finding life with his abusive cousins unbearable, Leroy decides to run away. He stumbles into a travelling Chautauqua show (a travelling show that brought entertainment and culture to communities) where it’s easy to get lost in a crowd — but also easy to lose your heart.