The Runaways is an adventure filled with warmth and humor from one of the world's great writers. Grandpa's in the hospital and hating it. He swears at the nurses and makes trouble. Gottfried Junior's dad finds it too stressful to visit. But the boy visits Grandpa as often as he's allowed, and when he's not allowed, he goes anyway. Grandpa thinks only of the place he was happiest - the island where he lived with Grandma before she died. He wants to go back, but they won't let him out of the hospital. Gottfried and Grandpa take things into their own hands. If running away is the only way to get to the island, then they'll be runaways. Ulf Stark is one of the world's great writers. Author of over 30 books for children and young adults, he has won many prizes, including the German Youth Literature Prize and the Astrid Lindgren Prize. He was shortlisted for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2018. Kitty Crowther received the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2010.
Author
Ulf Gottfrid Stark was a Swedish author and screenwriter (he adapted several of his own books for film and wrote the screenplay for the 1999 film Tsatsiki, morsan och polisen). Stark collaborated with the illustrators Anna Höglund and Mati Lepp. From 1989 to 1998 he was an elected member of the Swedish Academy for Children's Books Svenska barnboksakademin. In 1998 he received the Nordic Children's Book Prize. Stark was born and grew up in Stureby, Stockholm Municipality, which place features in several of his books. Stark's interest in writing started early; during his time at secondary school he was introduced to writing by his classmate Peter Curman, and in 1964 he wrote his first poetry Ett hål till livet. Following this, Stark's interest in writing for a career was greatly encouraged.
