However, her actions have negative consequences on Gloria, especially when her personal life comes under scrutiny. Then just as her family (and their home) is about to be featured on prime time tv, she decides to run away to a place that is safe, the home of their housekeeper (Gloria). She tries to work through her feelings, as well as what she is being told to do by those around her. When it seems like he is allowing the press, and his campaign manager, to invade their home and personal lives, she starts to get a little annoyed, especially since whenever she talks to him he tells her to get over herself and that she needs to think about his constituents. Throughout the novel, we see Mariana, who loves her father and wants to stand by his side, but her feelings start to change when he starts to become a different person from the man that she knows him to be. Running is a great novel that explores the idea of teenagers starting to explore politics and activism, and learning about how they can still have a voice and take a stand, even if they can not vote yet. She faced with the decision whether to just ignore what is going on, or should she try and take a stand, even if it could have a negative affect on her father’s campaign? As she tries to work through the invasiveness of her father’s campaign, she starts to learn that she might not know everything that her father stands for, and when she learns that his unwillingness to act on a specific bill is starting to have nasty effects not just on the environment, but people within her community. However, he’s now got his sights set on the White House, and as a result of his running for president, Mariana’s life is invaded by campaign managers and the press, nothing is private anymore and that bothers her a lot. Mariana Ruiz is a fifteen-year-old Cuban American who’s father is a Senator for the state of Florida.

Running by natalia sylvester