David Grossman, author of Be My Knife, has written an engrossing
tale about the life of two teenagers in modern Israel. Someone to
Run With shows how these Israeli youths have more important
concerns than the political and sectarian violence with which their
country has become synonymous. Family, friends, love and drugs
combine to create a totally absorbing story under the mastery of
Grossman's pen. The novel was first published in Israel in Hebrew
in 2000, and Vered Almog and Maya Gurantz have done a fantastic job
in translating the text. It flows along like a bubbling brook,
chattering to the reader and hurrying him along: there is no time
to pause for thought, and barely enough to draw breath. Asaf and
Tamar are the two protagonists. Asaf comes from a stable, loving
family and has little more to worry about than which girl he should
date, which trainers to wear and the boredom of his summer job in
the City Hall. Tamar's parents cast a rather darker shadow over
their offspring. When introduced into the story, Asaf appears a
fairly simple character to understand; Tamar is immediately
alienated from the reader by her mysterious actions. The
someone-to-run-with is Dinka the dog, who drags Asaf further and
further into the enigma that is Tamar, and deeper into her murky
quest. Ultimately, both teenagers find themselves pushed well
beyond the limits of childhood, and towards each other. This
intelligently constructed plot, though, deserves to tell its own
story. Grossman keeps readers on their toes, hoping, until the very
end and beyond. He is consistently touching, clever and original,
as he combines 21st-century realism with a touch of fairy-tale
magic. (Kirkus UK)
Earnest, awkward and painfully shy, sixteen-year-old Assaf is
having the worst summer of his life. With his big sister gone and
his best friend suddenly the most popular kid in their class, Assaf
spends his days at a lowly summer job in Jerusalem City Hall and
his evenings alone, watching television and playing games on the
Internet. One morning, Assaf's routine is interrupted by an absurd
assignment: to find the owner of a stray yellow labrador. Meanwhile
on the other side of the city, Tamar, a talented singer with a
lonely, tempestuous soul, undertakes an equally unpromising
mission: to rescue a young drug addict from the Jerusalem
underworld and, eventually, to find her dog.
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