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Runaway Girl: Escaping Life on the Streets Paperback – June 25, 2013

by Carissa Phelps (Author), Larkin Warren (Contributor)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 217 ratings
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“Riveting . . . A genuinely important book that casts the problem of sex trafficking in America into stunning, heartbreaking relief.” (Kirkus Reviews)
 
A School Library Journal Best Adult Book for Teens
A Joan F. Kaywell Award Finalist from the Florida Council of Teachers of English
 
Carissa Phelps was a runner. By the time she was twelve, she had run away from home, dropped out of school, and fled blindly into the arms of a brutal pimp. Even when she escaped him, she could not outrun the crushing inner pain of abuse, neglect, and abandonment. With little to hope for, she expected to end up in prison, or worse. But then her life was transformed through the unexpected kindness of a teacher and a counselor. Through small miracles, Carissa accomplished the unimaginable, graduating from UCLA with both a law degree and an MBA. She left the streets behind, yet found herself back, this time working to help homeless and at-risk youth discover their own paths to a better life. Like the multimillion-copy bestseller The Glass Castle, this memoir moves us through the power of its unflinching candor and generosity.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Books
  4. Publication date
    June 25, 2013
  5. Dimensions
    1 x 5.4 x 8.3 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0143123335
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0143123330
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Runaway Girl:
 
“This devastatingly honest memoir is not for the fainthearted . . . Kafka famously wrote, ‘A book must be the ax for the frozen sea within us.’ Runaway Girl just might become such a book. [Phelps] gives the reader valuable insight into a problem that is larger than most people realize.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
 
“Phelps is a success . . . [a] remarkable story.”
—NPR

“Carissa Phelps’s story illustrates the power each of us has to speak the words that are the difference between life and death, freedom and imprisonment, success and failure. Carissa is brilliant. She’s changing our world for the better, not despite what she’s been through, but specifically because of it.”
—Rhonda Sciortino, radio host of Crack the Code  and author of Succeed Because of What You’ve Been Through

“Riveting . . . A genuinely important book that casts the problem of sex trafficking in America into stunning, heartbreaking relief.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Runaway Girl may break your heart but I promise it will ultimately awe and inspire you. No child should have to endure what Carissa did, but thousands do. Her story is a testimony to the resilience of these children and the difference a caring individual can make in their lives. If you have any doubts whether one person can make a difference in the life of a traumatized, ‘delinquent,’ young person, Runaway Girl should put them to rest.”
—Dr. Howard Zehr, professor of restorative justice, Eastern Mennonite University’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, and author of What Will Happen to Me?
 
“Runaway Girl demonstrates a great amount of insight and maturity. Crisp writing and perfectly chosen events highlight the story of what happens to the majority of twelve-year-olds on the street.”
—School Library Journal, selected as a Best Adult Books for Teens of the Year
 
“As a captivating account of the triumph of a battered heart, Runaway Girl is truly a modern profile in courage, a spiritual odyssey, and a riveting read. Any child who experienced the trauma that Carissa Phelps so poignantly portrays will gain comfort, encouragement, and hope in reading this book.”
—Paul Freese, Public Counsel Law Center
 
“A brave memoir.”
—Publishers Weekly
 
“What happens to the thousands of kids every year in the United States who are forced to leave home? Many of them are find themselves in the same situation Carissa Phelps did: fallen between the cracks in foster care and forced by a vicious exploiter to walk the streets. With courage, insight, and unflinching honesty, Carissa reveals the truth about her life as a runaway, bringing to light the many issues facing homeless youth while providing them with a beacon of hope to follow. I want everyone who cares about our country’s young people to read this book.”
—Janice Erlbaum, author of Girlbomb
 
“This book is provocative in the best sense of the word: it incites readers to help. . . . Runaway Girl is an effective, socially aware book that offers unique insight into one woman’s personal experiences with trauma and recovery and her journey to find herself in a difficult, frightening, and ultimately supportive world.”  
—Katie Shaeffer, BookshelfBombshells.com

“With not a trace of victimhood or unplaced drama, this is a terrific addition to all collections."
—Amy Cheney, Alameda County Library, Juvenile Hall, CA
 
“Runaway Girl should be required reading for anyone with kids, especially girls, in their lives.”
—Jesika Long, Jesikalong.Tumblr.com
 
“Runaway Girl is both a cautionary tale about the realities of sex-trafficking in the U.S. and an inspirational story of the change that is possible with the help of others. A very important read for both parents and teenagers.”
—Vera Pereskokova, SheKnows.com
 

About the Author

Carissa Phelps is an attorney, a social entrepreneur, and a youth advocate. She is CEO and founder of Runaway Girl, FPC, a California flexible purpose corporation.


Larkin Warren’s recent book collaborations include Mary Forsberg Weiland’s Fall to Pieces andElyn R. Saks’s bestselling The Center Cannot Hold.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books; Reprint edition (June 25, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0143123335
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0143123330
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 1 x 5.4 x 8.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 217 ratings

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Carissa Phelps

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
217 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Addison DeWitt
5.0 out of 5 stars When Memory becomes Art
Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2012
Verified Purchase
I admit that before I opened up this book, I was not looking forward to the prospect of reading it. I thought the topic was dreary and depressing and I am very particular about memoirs. However, this memoir had me at the very first line. Ms. Phelps, along with writer, Ms. Warren, utilize a natural narrative voice which flows so very well. What I found so refreshing about it is that the writer(s) did not stop every paragraph or so in order to analyze what was transpiring; writing from hindsight instead of from the moment. I recently finished another memoir which did exactly that and I found it distracted from the story. Carissa's story is told in such a way as if the reader is watching it as it transpires. Moreover, the narrative voice starts out chronologically correct; meaning she sounds like a 12 year old and that voice matures and evolves in conjunction with time and events. This is a subtle, but effective writing technique.
The reader experiences a sense of helplessness when reading what happens to young Carrissa and one feels a sense of reader imprisonment; wanting to reach into the pages of the memoir and help this young girl while wringing the necks of the real life villains who brutalize her. One of the aspects of this memoir which underscores its triumph is that one cares deeply about Carissa, and when she overcomes the brutalities street life has handed her, one actually feels proud of her as if she were one's own daughter, sister or student.
This memoir does not impede the pure flush of memory by explaining things to the reader, the writer(s) do not get in the way of the subject's story resulting in a very compelling and riveting reading experience. I give it my highest recommendation.
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RichWords
5.0 out of 5 stars You won't put this down!
Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2012
Verified Purchase
An amazing story of disadvantage and devastating hardship coupled with hope and victory.

I choose this book mostly because I saw it featured in the email version of my hometown newspaper (San Luis Obispo, CA, where Carissa Phelps lives now). Also, she spent her life in the central valley towns I'm familiar with: Avenal, Fresno, and her hometown of Coalinga. But I had no idea what went on behind the doors and on the dark streets. Wow.

For all the darkness revealed, you'll come away uplifted and encouraged, because that's who Carissa is. Her description of growing up in the poorer part of town is tempered by her child's view of "that's just the way it is." She made the best of it. But then, things got tough...and tougher.

Another reviewer said Carissa just made things worse by continually running away. True, but I can't even imagine dealing with the things she did: the distrust of adults; the rules; the uncaring people. How does someone 11 or 12 even begin to figure that out? We can't look at it with our decades of life behind us and say, "She should have just..."

I loved the way she wove God and faith through the book in small doses.

And, although we knew the outcome due to her bio, I never felt like I knew what was coming next, how she'd react to the next challenge. Would she run again? Even after the last words, is she still running sometimes?

This is a powerful, fascinating look into the life of a girl, young woman, adult, who was dealt a rotten hand, and made her way through by sheer determination and the helping hands of a few who cared along the way. It left me believing I can make a difference.

Very well done, Carissa Phelps!
2 people found this helpful
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Justicepirate
4.0 out of 5 stars she is dropped off in juvie and left there for a few days before she does her best to survive on the streets
Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2018
Verified Purchase
This was an enjoyable story about a woman who gives us a narrative of her life, mainly focusing on her years as a pre-teen and as an early twenties adult.

Carissa was raised in a very large family and was not as cared for as she should have. When she is away from home too often and her mom doesn't know what to do, she is dropped off in juvie and left there for a few days before she does her best to survive on the streets. This process is painful and terrible. She endures a lot of tough situations that is both hard to read about and hard for her to recount, I am sure.

The descriptions throughout this book are really impressive. I felt as if I understood her feelings in the situations she recounts. I do think that this could have been shortened at times. I am glad she loves math as much as she does, but she focused too much on math which boggles and hurts my mind, so it is my fault, not hers. I think there were times where she repeated things a bit too, I suppose to reestablish the feeling of it. I suppose we repeat memories to people time and time again too.

Overall, I give this book a 3.5 star rating!
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DTD
5.0 out of 5 stars Carissa grabs you from the get go..
Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2012
Verified Purchase
To say this book is powerful is an understatement. The writing connects the reader immediately with Carissa. There have been few books that do this so well. You do not relive her horrific childhood from a distance. That child grabs your attention from the get go. The writing is unflinching yet you feel the pulse of a survivor through it all. You just know she's going to make it. And the trip is well worth it.

Thankfully, it also tells how a few really good people took her on, discovered her incredible intellect and spirit, and kept pushing her in the right direction. But she had been harmed body and mind. She often takes two steps back for every step forward. But the superb writing more than explains why. And yes there were the people who totally failed her. But her huge heart, street smarts, and being told she had potential - kept pushing her to keep going. The strides she makes in getting herself a law degree and a MBA are just incredible. Those who helped her were more than rescuers along the way. Once Carissa was an adult, she looked back at those that had helped her with gratitude. But she also knew the final piece of her own puzzle was understanding that she too would become a child advocate.

Frankly, I'd like to get my own bulldozer and plow down that motel in Fresno myself. But that's why the book is so worthy of praise. Runaway Girl is a book I will remember for a long time. It's not preachy - it's just real. We learned a lot from the testimony of the child victims at Penn State. Runaway Girl does that times ten. It's really an incredible, compelling read.
4 people found this helpful
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