RUN AWAY WITH ME

For one summer, two boys immerse themselves in stories and each other as they discover Rome and fall in love.

Danny and his mother never stay anywhere long. Her work as a book conservator drags him from one city to another, so nowhere feels like home. While his mom works, Danny, a white-presenting American who’s unable to speak Italian, is left to wander through Rome alone. Lonely and restless on the empty, rainy streets, Danny is lured by a mysterious voice and a hand-drawn map attached to a sculpture to discover an obelisk on the back of a marble elephant. There he meets Angelo, an Italian boy with dark curly hair and a mind racing with wild ideas. At first, Danny isn’t sure what to make of this boy who claims he’s nearly 3000 years old, but Angelo’s secrets and stories awaken new life inside Danny. For the first time he feels seen, and he knows Angelo needs someone to see him too. Their adventures unlock Rome—and Danny’s heart. The book opens and closes with two-page spreads featuring Selznick’s vivid line drawings which not only establish the setting but capture the mood of loneliness and longing. Much like Rome itself, Danny and Angelo’s story, revealed in poetic prose, is layered in stories and history, each one essential to the whole. The characters are quirky, imaginative, and enigmatic; their curiosity and desire are as infectious as Roman fever.

Intricate and wondrous.