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Title: Drugs, Love, and Isolation
Review: The best parts of Making the Run are its stark, yet evocative prose and the uniqueness of the main character, 18-year old Lu. Lu is not a stereotypical teen ager. Although she has a need to get high to deal with her life (as others her age in this small Kentucky town also do), she views her own life and feelings with honesty. Related from Lu's point of view, the novel's plot is simple, perhaps even predictatble, but it's strength is that it doesn't shy away from the casual drug use and binge drinking, the sex, the impulsive desire to get on with life, and the feelings of apartness that make up the lives of many teen agers. The book is at its best when dealing with her new and powerful attraction to the older Jay and with Lu's sense of being different from the others around her, even her best friend, Ginny. Death, both past and present, plays a powerful role in this young woman's life.
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