THE RUNAWAY

A boy leaves home due to circumstances that aren’t completely clear until the book’s conclusion.

This final installment in the Crow Stories trilogy features the familiar muted palette, Old West setting, and spare narrative of Vo’s previous books. Evocative illustrations, rendered in watercolor, ink, and acetone transfers of 19th-century newspaper clippings and posters, open on Jack, a light-skinned, dark-haired boy who “had many reasons to run, but when illness took his ma, that cinched it.” A sign for cholera prevention provides context. Jack is a resourceful traveler, sneaking onto a moving wagon and quenching his thirst at a woodland river. Two figures on horseback—concerned for his safety—bring him to their encampment, where he trades labor for food. The only clue to his mindset is a locket he holds dear with a photo of him and his sister. It is she, pale-skinned, with dark braids and wearing the orange scarf she sported in the second book in the series, The Ranger (2019), who finds him. A rust-colored tail visible at their reunion belongs to the fox Annie befriended. She explains that she had “many reasons” for being away so long but that she had always intended to come back for him. What links these titles other than the obvious? Perhaps each character is on a journey of grief, searching for the antidote. Is the outlaw in the first book possibly their father—one of his children’s “many reasons”?

A satisfying finish, even as questions linger.