Runaway — Wendelin Van Draanen

Holly's run away before, but this time she actually gets away -- and what feels like an escape at first soon becomes a daily struggle for survival. She is smart and resourceful, and she manages to make it all the way across the country on her own. But how long can this go on? It's getting harder and harder to avoid the truth -- Holly is now homeless.

Runaway is a riveting portrait of a girl just young and stubborn and naïve enough to hold out for finding a better place in the world to be.