The Prison Runner by Deborah Ellis - first published in the UK in 2006
This is a short novel written for teenagers about the reality of life in parts of present day Bolivia. 12 year old Diego lives in a Bolivian women's prison with his mother and younger sister. His parents were wrongly convicted of supplying cocaine and his father lives in a nearby men's prison. Diego is free to leave the prison during the day to go to school in Cochabamba and to run errands for other prisoners to earn money to help his mother with their living expenses. One day his sister goes missing when he is supposed to be looking after her and although she is found safe and well, Diego is stopped from running errands and therefore earning money. His friend Mando suggests that they take up a job offer from some businessmen for a couple of weeks, which will earn them very good money. They do this and are taken off to the jungle where the job turns out to be helping with the production of cocaine in a makeshift temporary 'factory'. Diego has to find a way to escape. The book is a quick and easy read but after a slow start it becomes quite gripping. 7/10
2nd February 2012
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