Runner

Carl Deuker is the author of the suspenseful thriller Runner, published in 2005. Deuker has written several award-winning novels centered around sports, but sports aren’t at the forefront in Runner. Chance, the teenage main character, likes to run, but he doesn’t engage with running as an organized sport. His main concerns are his dad and money, and in a challenging post-September-11 landscape, Chance deals with themes like Escape From Hopelessness, The Intense Pressure of Money, and The Suspicious, Dangerous World.

Content Warning: The novel features a parent with alcohol dependency, fatphobia, and anti-Muslim prejudice.

This guide refers to the 2005 Houghton Mifflin edition of Runner.

Plot Summary

Chance Taylor is a senior at Lincoln High in Seattle, and his school marks an early anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States. Mr. Arnold, Chance’s World Issues teacher, brings in Brent Miller. When Chance was a freshman, Miller was a senior. Their dads fought in the First Gulf War (1990-91) and deal with alcohol addiction. Chance and Miller hung out until a fight between their fathers ended their friendship. Miller is in the army and wants to fight in the Iraq War (2003-11).