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After graduating from Willamette University, Jo spent the most of next thirty years teaching, counseling, mothering, wifing and of course, writing.
Her writing first appeared in small literary magazines and professional publications. Since retirement, she has had time to write four novels and two screenplays.
Her stories and essays, as well as the novels, reflect her observations of women’s lives and the people who inhabit them: the children, husbands, parents, friends, and strangers who happen by and change everything.
Reviewed by Jessyca Garcia for Readers' Favorite
I thought The Runaway by Jo Barney was a good book. The story follows the lives of several different characters, all connected in some way. The two main characters are Ellie and Sarah. Ellie is a tough, older woman who is obsessed with cleaning graffiti. Sarah is a homeless, runaway teenager whose life is in danger. These two women must learn to trust each other in order to survive each other’s pasts.
When reading The Runaway, the reader has to make sure to pay attention to the title and year of each chapter. Barney jumps from character to character and past to present with each chapter. Each character in this story has a purpose. Personally, I love it when an author provides the backstory for each character. It helps me get to know the characters better and form some type of attachment to them. I really liked Sarah, but felt her backstory was missing some pieces.
However, the thing I liked most about this story was that Barney talked about Autism and how it affects the parents. Barney’s words about what Matt and Marge went through hit home with me. I thought the plot of The Runaway was exciting and unique. It made the book hard to put down. I was never exactly sure what was going to happen next. Nevertheless, I enjoyed how the ending of the story turned out. Overall, I am glad to have read this book. I will never look at graffiti in quite the same way again. I also plan on finding out information on my local food bank and how to donate.
