“I’m going to call you Danny. What are you going to name me?”

“Angelo.”

Danny is spending his sixteenth summer in Rome. As his mother spends the day at work in a mysterious museum, he wanders the ancient sites and streets. Soon after his arrival, he encounters a shadow… who becomes a voice… who becomes a boy his age. Angelo.

Soon Danny and Angelo are spending as much time as they can together, piecing together stories of the city while only gradually letting their own histories be shared. Attraction leads to affection, and affection leads to both an intimate closeness and a profound fear of what happens next. Danny has never really had a home, or known the love of another boy. Angelo seems to have more experience… but he also has secrets just out of Danny’s reach.

Run Away with Me by Brian Selznick is a profoundly emotional YA romance that is beautifully created using lyrical language and a heady atmosphere created from the first page. It weaves words and illustrations to share a story of transformative love built over one summer in Rome.

The story intersects with both the present with Danny and Angelo but also delves into the history of Rome, intertwining stories of the Monda brothers, a sculptor Dante, and an elephant. Each story reveals the nature of love in a lyrical and beautiful fashion, adding layers to the story of Danny and Angelo. And the mystery of Angelo, his past and who he is builds the emotional weight of the romance between the pair. The ending is breathtaking. Even though this is a novel written for a young adult audience, any adult reading it will also fall in love with this profoundly emotional story of love and romance in Rome. 

If you love stories that are lyrical and build a connectedness in the world of the novel, this book is for you, whether you are young or old. The romance and the emotional resonating story will leave you breathless. 

Rating: 5 out of 5 obelisks

Scholastic press

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