HIT AND RUN
Lurlene McDaniel
Laurel Leaf/Random House
Fiction
Hardcover: 9780385731614
Paperback: 9780440238706
176 pages

Analise is used to biking all over. Her mind is occupied with thoughts of her job as editor of the yearbook, her boyfriend Jeremy and her college plans. She was supposed to leave at 9:00, but when the parents of the children she is babysitting for ask if she can stay a little later, she doesn’t see a problem with that.

Laurie’s mother was Miss Popularity in high school, and she really wants Laurie to enjoy the same experience. Laurie is pretty excited when fellow senior Quin --- who never noticed her before --- asks her out, so she ignores rumors that he likes to go through girls looking for a good time. But the party they attend isn’t much fun, and when Quin pushes her beyond some kisses, she’s ready to head home. When they hit something on the road, Laurie can’t see what it is. Quin tells her he’s putting brush over the guardrail so no one will run over the side.

When the news comes out that Analise was found on a shelf over the side of the mountain and is in a coma, Laurie doesn’t know what to do. What if Quin hit Analise? She takes a chance and threatens to tell on him if he doesn’t become her boyfriend. She wants to be popular, and it works for a while. Soon, though, she and Quin can’t stand each other, and the situation becomes even more miserable and complicated. She doesn’t know what to do.

Quin’s father takes the car out of town to get it fixed when he notices blood and green paint among the dents. He can’t figure out why his son now has a steady girlfriend after being a serial dater, but he’s determined to let nothing get in the way of Quin’s future.

Jeremy stops working as a carpenter’s apprentice and spends all his time at the hospital next to Analise. He can’t believe this has happened, and his life loses meaning as he goes through the motions of school. He is consumed by the idea that someone could have hit his precious girl and left her to die.

Fans of Lurlene McDaniel know to keep the Kleenex handy for her powerful novels. HIT AND RUN is no different. The choices people make during tragedies can change their future, and readers will be drawn into the stories of Analise, Jeremy, Quin and Laurie.

    --- Reviewed by Amy Alessio

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