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Run, Clarissa, Run
Life in a small town can be tough when you're a little different, but for a fifteen year old transgender kid it can truly be hell. Clark is harassed daily at school for his effeminate behavior and appearance. He has no friends and a brother that is as likely to be on the teasing as to prevent it.
When Clark is offered a job babysitting for the Pirella family, it seems like a godsend. The money is good. He bonds with the girls almost instantly. The father, Tony, works in computer security. Tony and Clark strike up a friendship based on a mutual love of computers and hacking.
As Tony becomes aware of Clark's transsexuality and his growing feminine alter ego, Clarissa, things become incredibly complicated. Will Tony be Clarissa's salvation, or her undoing?
When Clark is offered a job babysitting for the Pirella family, it seems like a godsend. The money is good. He bonds with the girls almost instantly. The father, Tony, works in computer security. Tony and Clark strike up a friendship based on a mutual love of computers and hacking.
As Tony becomes aware of Clark's transsexuality and his growing feminine alter ego, Clarissa, things become incredibly complicated. Will Tony be Clarissa's salvation, or her undoing?
314 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 5, 2011
42 people are currently reading
921 people want to read
About the author
Rachel Eliason
25 books65 followersRachel Eliason is a transgender woman and writer. Ms. Eliason is both a writer and a fan of deeply immersive science fiction and fantasy novels. She loves to share with her fans the worlds she is creating, and the ones she is discovering. Her contemporary YA work is published as Rachel Eliason and her Science Fiction and Fantasy work is under R. J. Eliason.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
May 6, 2016
Run, Clarissa, Run is the story of the eponymous Clarissa, a young transgendered woman who is coming out to her family, and friends, and the rest of the world.
Okay, so I really wanted to like this novel, and I really tried. In the end, however, there were just way too many problems for me to be able to overlook.
Firstly, there's Clarissa herself. Or Clark, as she's been known from birth. I found it weird how the third person narrative switched between calling her Clarissa and Clark. I can see why it was done, especially towards the beginning of the book when Clark is struggling with his gender identity, but it got weird. It was like Clarissa and Clark were two separate people, and Clarissa even thinks about how Clark would be lost without her in his life. I don't know, do people really think like that? Once Clarissa realised she was transgender and she'd chosen the name Clarissa, why couldn't the narrative call her by the gender she identified as from then on? It wouldn't have been that hard or confusing, I don't think.
Using first person might have solved the pronoun issue, to be honest.
And, sadly, I didn't believe that Clarissa was good with computers. Not at all. I was told this, but it didn't ring true. However, aside from the not-very-believable computer skills, I think Clarissa was well-developed as a character. Not everything about her was to do with her gender, which was refreshing.
There aren't that many books about transgender characters, and I want to like any book that deals with these issues, but the whole plot just felt unreal to me. Like, everything went slightly too far to be believable. Too extreme.
The bullying, for example, whilst I know it can get as extreme as it becomes in the novel, didn't feel real. I think it's a problem with the dialogue, to be fair - the dialogue felt fictional and awkward.
And don't get me started on the final third of the book, where . At that point my suspension of disbelief had all but flown out the window.
Stylistically, though, the book also suffered. There wasn't much wrong with the way the book was written, but the technical points such as punctuation (especially quotation marks and construction of dialogue) was pretty terrible in places. (With another round of editing, I think this could have been pretty much sorted, though!)
Also, I hate head-hopping in books. I really do. Thankfully, Eliason never head-hopped mid-scene (so kudos for that), but occasionally we'd get scenes from characters that weren't Clarissa, and I felt these were awkward and out of place. I get that there were things going on that Clarissa didn't see, but... did the reader need to see them? Not necessarily.
So, yes. I wanted to like this book, I really did. Unfortunately, though, I couldn't suspend my disbelief enough to truly enjoy it.
Okay, so I really wanted to like this novel, and I really tried. In the end, however, there were just way too many problems for me to be able to overlook.
Firstly, there's Clarissa herself. Or Clark, as she's been known from birth. I found it weird how the third person narrative switched between calling her Clarissa and Clark. I can see why it was done, especially towards the beginning of the book when Clark is struggling with his gender identity, but it got weird. It was like Clarissa and Clark were two separate people, and Clarissa even thinks about how Clark would be lost without her in his life. I don't know, do people really think like that? Once Clarissa realised she was transgender and she'd chosen the name Clarissa, why couldn't the narrative call her by the gender she identified as from then on? It wouldn't have been that hard or confusing, I don't think.
Using first person might have solved the pronoun issue, to be honest.
And, sadly, I didn't believe that Clarissa was good with computers. Not at all. I was told this, but it didn't ring true. However, aside from the not-very-believable computer skills, I think Clarissa was well-developed as a character. Not everything about her was to do with her gender, which was refreshing.
There aren't that many books about transgender characters, and I want to like any book that deals with these issues, but the whole plot just felt unreal to me. Like, everything went slightly too far to be believable. Too extreme.
The bullying, for example, whilst I know it can get as extreme as it becomes in the novel, didn't feel real. I think it's a problem with the dialogue, to be fair - the dialogue felt fictional and awkward.
And don't get me started on the final third of the book, where . At that point my suspension of disbelief had all but flown out the window.
Stylistically, though, the book also suffered. There wasn't much wrong with the way the book was written, but the technical points such as punctuation (especially quotation marks and construction of dialogue) was pretty terrible in places. (With another round of editing, I think this could have been pretty much sorted, though!)
Also, I hate head-hopping in books. I really do. Thankfully, Eliason never head-hopped mid-scene (so kudos for that), but occasionally we'd get scenes from characters that weren't Clarissa, and I felt these were awkward and out of place. I get that there were things going on that Clarissa didn't see, but... did the reader need to see them? Not necessarily.
So, yes. I wanted to like this book, I really did. Unfortunately, though, I couldn't suspend my disbelief enough to truly enjoy it.
January 11, 2013
Clarissa is a transgender teen who has been raised as a boy named Clark. [For the sake of consistency and simplicity, I am choosing to refer to Clarissa by her chosen name and preferred gender, regardless of her gender presentation.] Clarissa is constantly teased at school, often violently so, and is misunderstood by her mother, her brother, even her therapist. After some unfortunate incidents involving the father of a family for whom Clarissa babysits, Clarissa decides to run away to Bangkok where she hires a doctor and receives the SRS (sex reassignment surgery) that she has been dreaming of.
This story has a lot of interesting aspects - the computer hacking Clarissa does, for example. It also seems to me that Clarissa has to deal with a larger portion of problems than a typical teen - even a typical transgender teen - does. The man for whom she is babysitting seduces her and nearly rapes her (making her the fourth in a line of teens who were assaulted by this man). Once she runs away, the FBI and the State Department come after her. There's a subplot where Tony, her almost-rapist, is accused of insider trading.
This was a difficult story to read. I didn't want Clarissa to have to face SRS alone, much less in a country halfway around the world. I wanted the school bullies to learn not to tease. I wanted everything to end happily ever after. Even though it didn't, the story itself was very satisfying to read.
I have only one caveat: The author of this story self-published her work, so the book did not go through the normal round of edits that comes from a major publisher. English gurus and grammar nazis will be bothered by misuses of set/sat, then/than, apostrophes, commas, etc. The errors are not so extreme that they caused me to put the book down, but they were a distracting annoyance in what was otherwise a very interesting story.
This story has a lot of interesting aspects - the computer hacking Clarissa does, for example. It also seems to me that Clarissa has to deal with a larger portion of problems than a typical teen - even a typical transgender teen - does. The man for whom she is babysitting seduces her and nearly rapes her (making her the fourth in a line of teens who were assaulted by this man). Once she runs away, the FBI and the State Department come after her. There's a subplot where Tony, her almost-rapist, is accused of insider trading.
This was a difficult story to read. I didn't want Clarissa to have to face SRS alone, much less in a country halfway around the world. I wanted the school bullies to learn not to tease. I wanted everything to end happily ever after. Even though it didn't, the story itself was very satisfying to read.
I have only one caveat: The author of this story self-published her work, so the book did not go through the normal round of edits that comes from a major publisher. English gurus and grammar nazis will be bothered by misuses of set/sat, then/than, apostrophes, commas, etc. The errors are not so extreme that they caused me to put the book down, but they were a distracting annoyance in what was otherwise a very interesting story.
September 7, 2015
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. This did not change my opinion of the book or the contents of this review.
I wanted to like Run, Clarrisa, Run, I really did. There aren’t nearly enough books in the YA market about transgendered characters, and the ones that do exist don’t tend to be successful. In particular, there are few books about transsexualism that deal with cisexism and bullying in the way this does. Both Luna and Parrotfish (the two books I’ve read about transgendered characters before now) dealt with characters that were, compared to Clarissa, extremely lucky - they may not have been exactly rosy and happy, but they didn’t go through the pain and trauma that Eliason explores here.
Yes, I wanted to like this book.
But here’s the ultimate problem: this book struggles to feel real. Everything that happened was technically possible, but so much of it was so extreme that it didn’t feel believable. And because so few people have a real understanding of what it means to be transgendered, it’s extremely important that books dealing with the topic feel real. This book, unfortunately, doesn’t. It’s just too extreme in too many ways.
(Warning: major spoilers for the entire book follow. If you're planning on reading this book, I would advise you stop reading this review.)
For instance, the bullies. I had trouble buying some of what they did. It’s not that they were too extreme - I’ve seen stuff just as harsh as what they put Clarissa through. But some of the things they actually said and did didn’t feel right. Like during the death threat scene. That should’ve been a horrifying scene, but the bullies feel so ridiculous during it - for some reason making clear that they’re fine with gay people, just not with Clark - that it doesn’t read the way Eliason wanted it to. There are a lot of moments like that, moments that should be sad or scary, but that were ruined by giving a bully awkward motivations or dialogue.
But that’s nothing compared to what Clarissa does towards the end of the novel, and how everybody reacts to it. Really, the entire last third of the novel had a bizarre, surreal quality to it. Clarissa runs away, which I can completely understand for someone in her situation, but how she does it is a bit problematic. First off, she funds this project with money that she stole from Tony’s computer, Tony being the person that taught her how to use computers. I didn’t buy Clarissa being particularly good at computers at all - she picked up in a matter of weeks something people go to college for - but I really didn’t buy her being good enough to hack the person that taught her how to hack in the first place. Yes, she did need his password to do the hacking, but she guesses it in just one try. I’m sure anyone with a knowledge of computers cringed at that scene.
Second, there’s how the FBI treated Clarissa after she ran away. Yes, I know that the missing persons department would focus on bringing Clarissa back and ignoring any minor crimes she did... but she didn’t just do minor crimes. She stole thousands of dollars from Tony. Yes, he stole the money as well, but it’s still a crime. Once someone is stealing money, they’re not a missing person anymore; they’re a wanted fugitive. That means that Clarissa shouldn’t have just been arrested, she should’ve also been taken to jail (theft of money warrants a jail sentence, even if it’s not done in a violent way), and kept there. (To be clear: I don't mean that she deserved to go to jail, just that she would've gone to jail in real life.) Yet not only did the FBI let her go with no bail, they even let her do things like graduate from high school and apply to college before her trial. Which just isn't how it works, no matter how lenient they're being.
There's also the presence of sexual abuse in the plot. This wasn't handled badly, exactly, it was just unnecessary. I have no idea why Eliason put it in, but it felt like it was only inserted into the plot so that the characters would have something to angst about, just to make things feel more extreme. This really wasn't necessary - the bullying on display already felt more than extreme enough. Moreover, Eliason never really says anything meaningful about sexual abuse, nor does she try to. It's dealt with plenty, but it always feels like a sub-plot. That's a bit awkward, because the topic really does deserve more than that. It just didn't feel like it was explored deeply enough. And, like I said, it was completely necessary - if Tony was a supportive person who just taught Clarissa how to use computers, the plot wouldn't be altered in any significant way.
And, finally, I never quite bought Clarissa's mentality. The bullying she went through was incredibly extreme, she needs therapy, it's mentioned that she cuts a lot... and I never felt any of it. There was a general air of cynicism to her, but not nearly enough compared to what it should've been. In a lot of ways, she honestly felt like a naive young girl, just discovering new things about her sexuality, her gender, and the people around her. She read a little like Grady from Parrotfish, but Grady's life wasn't nearly as difficult as Clarissa's.
Other than that, though, I can praise Eliason's characterization skills. Clarissa's attitudes may have felt ill-suited to her life, but as a character, she felt real and well-developed. I really liked that her characterization wasn't entirely based around her gender - she had plenty of other qualities, even if most of the novel focused on her gender. The other characters could be a little one-note at times (such as in Marcus), but for the most part, Eliason did a good job of capturing the attitudes of everyone involved. In particular, I was impressed with how she handled the characters that weren't transgendered, but were talking about Clarissa. It's hard to capture exactly how someone feels about this situation when they don't have an understanding of it, particularly when your understanding is as intimate as Eliason's is. Thankfully, though, she pulls it off without a hitch - I would've believed that the things she wrote for the cisgendered characters were said by real people.
So, the dialogue was very good. But unfortunately, the prose suffered a bit more. There was nothing wrong stylistically - Eliason makes efficient and smooth use of third-person. But from a technical perspective, there are a lot of problems. It's the kind of thing you'd expect from a typical self-published book - there are punctuation errors, spelling mistakes, and most prominently, quotation formatting errors. It wasn't constant, but it happened often enough to be distracting, and it stood out whenever it did. The book feels very polished overall, particularly for a self-published book, but I do wish Eliason had focused more on line editing.
Overall, this is a very respectable attempt to write a book about a transgendered character, but it fails on a number of levels. If you're on a project to read as many books on the topic as you can find (like I am), you might as well give it a shot. But if you're just looking for something entertaining to read, there are better options. And there are definitely better books that explore this topic.
EDIT: In retrospect, this review strikes me as needlessly harsh. I do think it goes over the line of what can be considered realistically a few times, but it wasn't totally fair of me to focus on that for the entire review. This book features a well-developed trans girl, written by a trans woman. There aren't nearly enough of those in YA. Plus, this book, in spite of its flaws, really made me care about Clarissa. This book is worth reading, even if it's not great.
I wanted to like Run, Clarrisa, Run, I really did. There aren’t nearly enough books in the YA market about transgendered characters, and the ones that do exist don’t tend to be successful. In particular, there are few books about transsexualism that deal with cisexism and bullying in the way this does. Both Luna and Parrotfish (the two books I’ve read about transgendered characters before now) dealt with characters that were, compared to Clarissa, extremely lucky - they may not have been exactly rosy and happy, but they didn’t go through the pain and trauma that Eliason explores here.
Yes, I wanted to like this book.
But here’s the ultimate problem: this book struggles to feel real. Everything that happened was technically possible, but so much of it was so extreme that it didn’t feel believable. And because so few people have a real understanding of what it means to be transgendered, it’s extremely important that books dealing with the topic feel real. This book, unfortunately, doesn’t. It’s just too extreme in too many ways.
(Warning: major spoilers for the entire book follow. If you're planning on reading this book, I would advise you stop reading this review.)
For instance, the bullies. I had trouble buying some of what they did. It’s not that they were too extreme - I’ve seen stuff just as harsh as what they put Clarissa through. But some of the things they actually said and did didn’t feel right. Like during the death threat scene. That should’ve been a horrifying scene, but the bullies feel so ridiculous during it - for some reason making clear that they’re fine with gay people, just not with Clark - that it doesn’t read the way Eliason wanted it to. There are a lot of moments like that, moments that should be sad or scary, but that were ruined by giving a bully awkward motivations or dialogue.
But that’s nothing compared to what Clarissa does towards the end of the novel, and how everybody reacts to it. Really, the entire last third of the novel had a bizarre, surreal quality to it. Clarissa runs away, which I can completely understand for someone in her situation, but how she does it is a bit problematic. First off, she funds this project with money that she stole from Tony’s computer, Tony being the person that taught her how to use computers. I didn’t buy Clarissa being particularly good at computers at all - she picked up in a matter of weeks something people go to college for - but I really didn’t buy her being good enough to hack the person that taught her how to hack in the first place. Yes, she did need his password to do the hacking, but she guesses it in just one try. I’m sure anyone with a knowledge of computers cringed at that scene.
Second, there’s how the FBI treated Clarissa after she ran away. Yes, I know that the missing persons department would focus on bringing Clarissa back and ignoring any minor crimes she did... but she didn’t just do minor crimes. She stole thousands of dollars from Tony. Yes, he stole the money as well, but it’s still a crime. Once someone is stealing money, they’re not a missing person anymore; they’re a wanted fugitive. That means that Clarissa shouldn’t have just been arrested, she should’ve also been taken to jail (theft of money warrants a jail sentence, even if it’s not done in a violent way), and kept there. (To be clear: I don't mean that she deserved to go to jail, just that she would've gone to jail in real life.) Yet not only did the FBI let her go with no bail, they even let her do things like graduate from high school and apply to college before her trial. Which just isn't how it works, no matter how lenient they're being.
There's also the presence of sexual abuse in the plot. This wasn't handled badly, exactly, it was just unnecessary. I have no idea why Eliason put it in, but it felt like it was only inserted into the plot so that the characters would have something to angst about, just to make things feel more extreme. This really wasn't necessary - the bullying on display already felt more than extreme enough. Moreover, Eliason never really says anything meaningful about sexual abuse, nor does she try to. It's dealt with plenty, but it always feels like a sub-plot. That's a bit awkward, because the topic really does deserve more than that. It just didn't feel like it was explored deeply enough. And, like I said, it was completely necessary - if Tony was a supportive person who just taught Clarissa how to use computers, the plot wouldn't be altered in any significant way.
And, finally, I never quite bought Clarissa's mentality. The bullying she went through was incredibly extreme, she needs therapy, it's mentioned that she cuts a lot... and I never felt any of it. There was a general air of cynicism to her, but not nearly enough compared to what it should've been. In a lot of ways, she honestly felt like a naive young girl, just discovering new things about her sexuality, her gender, and the people around her. She read a little like Grady from Parrotfish, but Grady's life wasn't nearly as difficult as Clarissa's.
Other than that, though, I can praise Eliason's characterization skills. Clarissa's attitudes may have felt ill-suited to her life, but as a character, she felt real and well-developed. I really liked that her characterization wasn't entirely based around her gender - she had plenty of other qualities, even if most of the novel focused on her gender. The other characters could be a little one-note at times (such as in Marcus), but for the most part, Eliason did a good job of capturing the attitudes of everyone involved. In particular, I was impressed with how she handled the characters that weren't transgendered, but were talking about Clarissa. It's hard to capture exactly how someone feels about this situation when they don't have an understanding of it, particularly when your understanding is as intimate as Eliason's is. Thankfully, though, she pulls it off without a hitch - I would've believed that the things she wrote for the cisgendered characters were said by real people.
So, the dialogue was very good. But unfortunately, the prose suffered a bit more. There was nothing wrong stylistically - Eliason makes efficient and smooth use of third-person. But from a technical perspective, there are a lot of problems. It's the kind of thing you'd expect from a typical self-published book - there are punctuation errors, spelling mistakes, and most prominently, quotation formatting errors. It wasn't constant, but it happened often enough to be distracting, and it stood out whenever it did. The book feels very polished overall, particularly for a self-published book, but I do wish Eliason had focused more on line editing.
Overall, this is a very respectable attempt to write a book about a transgendered character, but it fails on a number of levels. If you're on a project to read as many books on the topic as you can find (like I am), you might as well give it a shot. But if you're just looking for something entertaining to read, there are better options. And there are definitely better books that explore this topic.
EDIT: In retrospect, this review strikes me as needlessly harsh. I do think it goes over the line of what can be considered realistically a few times, but it wasn't totally fair of me to focus on that for the entire review. This book features a well-developed trans girl, written by a trans woman. There aren't nearly enough of those in YA. Plus, this book, in spite of its flaws, really made me care about Clarissa. This book is worth reading, even if it's not great.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 28, 2012
Couldn't put it down. Read it in one sitting.
March 3, 2013
A few years ago, I was touched by the transgender issues while reading "Almost Perfect" by Brian Katcher. So after reading the synopsis of "Run, Clarissa, Run", I wanted to dive into the life of Clark / Clarissa.
And what a life! I was not disappointed at all. The author takes you on a whirlwind of emotions.
At the beginning, the reader follows Clark is the way he is challenged, constantly bullied by his comrades in high school. Called by awful names, including homosexual, his integration is difficult by the girls and the boys.
At home, his inner discomfort is not really understood. Nobody seems to listen, not even his therapist who believes that Clark denies his attraction to men.
However, the teenager was always clear: he is not comfortable in his body and wants to be a woman.
Sure, it's scary to hear his determination but why is it easier to play the deaf ?
A position as babysitter and Clark discovers acceptance. For the first time, he is encouraged and dared to put Clarissa forward on the spotlight.
It's thrilling and soon very unconfortable because the man who felt and desired the woman in himself is twice his age, married and a father of two...
From that moment on, the story takes another twist. The reader is immersed in cybercrime due to Clark's skills with a computer, and sexual abuse. A manhunt is instructed when funds are stolen, forged papers discovered and soon the country's security is threatened.
But Clark is a man with a mission. He wants to become a woman and Thailand can be the solution for achieving his dream.
Exciting and incredibly well written, the story talks about the difficulties of young people and adults to accept any sexuality other than heterosexuality. Suffering, misunderstanding and lack of listening can break someone who is different. Nobody seems to hear, understand Clark when he strives to just be himself by being Clarissa. Fortunately, the story ends well.
This fictional novel as an air of "Catch Me If You Can" directed by Steven Spielberg, even if the hero is totaly oblivious of the situation for a good part of the chase. Some interesting points are adressed that made me think. If I had a son in the position of Clark, how would I have reacted differently? In view of today's society, a gay son is no more "acceptable" than a transsexual one?
I really enjoyed this novel written with skills by Rachel Eliason. All the characters, even the secondary ones, are endearing and moving. A great read!
Lucie
http://newbooksonmyselves.blogspot.fr...
And what a life! I was not disappointed at all. The author takes you on a whirlwind of emotions.
At the beginning, the reader follows Clark is the way he is challenged, constantly bullied by his comrades in high school. Called by awful names, including homosexual, his integration is difficult by the girls and the boys.
At home, his inner discomfort is not really understood. Nobody seems to listen, not even his therapist who believes that Clark denies his attraction to men.
However, the teenager was always clear: he is not comfortable in his body and wants to be a woman.
Sure, it's scary to hear his determination but why is it easier to play the deaf ?
A position as babysitter and Clark discovers acceptance. For the first time, he is encouraged and dared to put Clarissa forward on the spotlight.
It's thrilling and soon very unconfortable because the man who felt and desired the woman in himself is twice his age, married and a father of two...
From that moment on, the story takes another twist. The reader is immersed in cybercrime due to Clark's skills with a computer, and sexual abuse. A manhunt is instructed when funds are stolen, forged papers discovered and soon the country's security is threatened.
But Clark is a man with a mission. He wants to become a woman and Thailand can be the solution for achieving his dream.
Exciting and incredibly well written, the story talks about the difficulties of young people and adults to accept any sexuality other than heterosexuality. Suffering, misunderstanding and lack of listening can break someone who is different. Nobody seems to hear, understand Clark when he strives to just be himself by being Clarissa. Fortunately, the story ends well.
This fictional novel as an air of "Catch Me If You Can" directed by Steven Spielberg, even if the hero is totaly oblivious of the situation for a good part of the chase. Some interesting points are adressed that made me think. If I had a son in the position of Clark, how would I have reacted differently? In view of today's society, a gay son is no more "acceptable" than a transsexual one?
I really enjoyed this novel written with skills by Rachel Eliason. All the characters, even the secondary ones, are endearing and moving. A great read!
Lucie
http://newbooksonmyselves.blogspot.fr...
February 5, 2013
honestly it is my first book about transgender. I found the book very amusing. the title really fit the book. i felt like I've been running all away with Clarissa.
i felt there is some kind of similarity with Catch Me If You Can running.
i found the whole run is amusing. once i start reading i couldn't stop. the characters or the personas of Clark are well painted- actually great painted. i got to know her feelings.
I really sympathized with Clark. I love the karma Idea.
my only critic was the fact that some paragraphs are short, and crammed under each other in a way i didn't know that i started another paragraph except after a while.
It is a story about a transgender boy who dreams to be a girl, and fight to be who he believe he/she is.
about the question in the book description, whether Tony will be her salvation or undoing. in the middle of the book I was so sure he was gonna be her salvation.
but at the end- Oooops -not gonna tell :p
you have to read the book in order to figure it out.
recommended.:)
February 6, 2013
I received a copy free through Goodreads First Reads.
Wow what a fantastic book!! The story was perfectly paced and the characters were fabulous!! Clarissa was not only engaging but also heartwarming. This was my first read about a transgender character and it was amazing.
I loved the whole concept and I think it depicts much of what these teens face today. the bullying was something that any teen could relate to and the author did a great job of making it real but not too real. This book does a great job of promoting diversity and bringing understanding to an emerging group.
Really well done and I would love to see more from this author!
I would love to have the teens in my book club read this book and discuss it after. It would be interesting to see what they think. It would also be a terrific book for them because most of them are also in our LGBTQ peer group at the teen center. It could definitely give them another perspective!
Cover Art - Cool text but nothing that is going to really grab you and say hey pick me over all the awesome covers on the bookshelf!
Wow what a fantastic book!! The story was perfectly paced and the characters were fabulous!! Clarissa was not only engaging but also heartwarming. This was my first read about a transgender character and it was amazing.
I loved the whole concept and I think it depicts much of what these teens face today. the bullying was something that any teen could relate to and the author did a great job of making it real but not too real. This book does a great job of promoting diversity and bringing understanding to an emerging group.
Really well done and I would love to see more from this author!
I would love to have the teens in my book club read this book and discuss it after. It would be interesting to see what they think. It would also be a terrific book for them because most of them are also in our LGBTQ peer group at the teen center. It could definitely give them another perspective!
Cover Art - Cool text but nothing that is going to really grab you and say hey pick me over all the awesome covers on the bookshelf!
February 25, 2015
Run, Clarissa, Run by Eliason is a feel-good story that would make a good movie. It's Eliason's story as a teenager and how she would have preferred to be like the main character. She has Clark exploring his gender and I waited with bated breath for her to try on a woman's clothes where she was babysitting. Clarissa is given the gift of mending computers which came from the male parent. She turns this on him and fulfils her dream of surgery. Her mother is shown as someone who won't talk about Clarissa's gender identity. But Clarissa is abused at school and her mother can't help her. It's not a happy childhood for Clarissa but the glimpses of friendship keep her buoyant.
I'd recommend this book for parents and teens alike.
I'd recommend this book for parents and teens alike.
July 1, 2018
I wish I could say I was pleasantly surprised but…unfortunately it lived down to my worst expectations. - Arthur
I just don’t understand why the narrative didn’t go from using “he” to “she” once Clarissa came out as transgender, instead treating Clarissa as another personality that was taking over. - Laura
You can read our full review here
I just don’t understand why the narrative didn’t go from using “he” to “she” once Clarissa came out as transgender, instead treating Clarissa as another personality that was taking over. - Laura
You can read our full review here
February 2, 2015
It was okay. A little too far-fetched with the 'whizz-kid computer expert' stuff and SPaG needed better editing. I also got increasingly annoyed with the constant references to how rubbish Windows is. It might be, but at times the story read like something a rival company might post. It was enough to have me pulled out of the story.
May 22, 2013
I absolutely.loved this book. It gave me a better understanding of what transgendered/transexuals go through. It made me laugh and cry. I rooted for Clarissa, and loved how strong and passionate she was.
May 19, 2024
This is a hard book to rate. It was written to provide hope and uplift to trans teens going through the bullying, insults, and rejection that many suffer at school and sometimes, too, at home. In this regard it is perhaps successful. However, I have rarely read a book, whether independently or traditionally published so in need of editing, copy editing, continuity editing, and proofreading. Even the typography (the mixture of curly and straight quotation marks) could use some consistency. The number of typos, wordos, grammatical lapses and transgressions are bad enough, but there are also strange hiccups in many scenes that suggest that something got lost in the editing.
No book flows from a writer’s pen as a perfect, flawless creation, and the time and effort that go into painstaking editing and re-writing are done out of consideration to the book’s potential readers. To skip those steps are too often a sign of narcissism or a lack of self discipline on behalf of an author who either does not hold potential readers in very high regard or who would rather fantasize about what a terrific book they *intended* to write than to face what they actually produced.
Years ago, I was working as a writer and developmental editor at a mid-sized management consulting firm, and this woman, who had been brought on for her highly specialized knowledge, thrust a legal pad at me with dozens of pages of largely indecipherable scribbling on it. What was there was obviously an extremely rough first-draft of something so poorly thought-out that I had no hope of figuring out what she was trying to say. “Um,” I said, trying to find some way to be polite and deferential, “what exactly is this?” The woman waved her hands at me vaguely and said, “Go on and do that—that writing thing you do to it.” Ms. Eliason’s book is in much better shape that what this consultant dumped in my lap, but it would have been far better still had someone spent some time doing “that writing thing” to it. It’s a shame, because perhaps it could have been classic, rather than a toothache.
No book flows from a writer’s pen as a perfect, flawless creation, and the time and effort that go into painstaking editing and re-writing are done out of consideration to the book’s potential readers. To skip those steps are too often a sign of narcissism or a lack of self discipline on behalf of an author who either does not hold potential readers in very high regard or who would rather fantasize about what a terrific book they *intended* to write than to face what they actually produced.
Years ago, I was working as a writer and developmental editor at a mid-sized management consulting firm, and this woman, who had been brought on for her highly specialized knowledge, thrust a legal pad at me with dozens of pages of largely indecipherable scribbling on it. What was there was obviously an extremely rough first-draft of something so poorly thought-out that I had no hope of figuring out what she was trying to say. “Um,” I said, trying to find some way to be polite and deferential, “what exactly is this?” The woman waved her hands at me vaguely and said, “Go on and do that—that writing thing you do to it.” Ms. Eliason’s book is in much better shape that what this consultant dumped in my lap, but it would have been far better still had someone spent some time doing “that writing thing” to it. It’s a shame, because perhaps it could have been classic, rather than a toothache.
June 14, 2020
Wow I'm so educated from reading so much of the information provided by the author on gender identity. Not that I was ever misinformed or uneducated. It's just you can't learn enough on your own,and I love to know things from an experienced point of view. I am well active in the LGBTQ community myself although I'm a heterosexual black woman, my mind and heart is very open to humanity, struggle, and abuse in many forms. I've mentored a few trans ppl in there preteen yrs,before they wanted to transition struggling with their gender identity and not so much sexual preference. I have seen the transition in a safe environment around loving family and support. I also seen the heartbreaking struggle and loneliness of transitioning without family love and support. Either way it wasn't a walk down rainbow lane for any of those young people. I loved this book,and that the author not only wrote a fictional story based off alot of factual information out there for the LGBTQ community. I read the authors biography and learned they're Trans as well and that gave me more respect, depth and insight into the writers thought process in bringing this story of Clark/Clarissa to life on the pages. Thank You for this book,it was everything and more!!👏🏿👏🏿
November 27, 2017
While being gay myself, I have struggled the past several years with trials, emotions and struggles faced by trans people. I was pleased to see their plight begin to receive greater understanding and acceptance but was still guilty of thinking to myself that there was just too much drama around their lives.
I now better understand the constant inner battle/desire/knowledge that these people struggle with for years until they find a way to begin their transition. This story is one of the strongest books I have read, both from a gender struggle perspective and our tendency to underestimate the logic/intelligence/capacity of 16 year olds today. Clark/Clarissa lands a job babysitting for a family whose father provides her with unlimited knowledge of computer security, operating systems and network access. Any further comments would only result in spoilers, but understand that this is a multifaceted story, Clark's battle to transition to become Clarissa, in dept computer security, hacking and the prevention of, and international intrigue as several branches of the FBI become involved.
A CRACKER JACK READ.
I now better understand the constant inner battle/desire/knowledge that these people struggle with for years until they find a way to begin their transition. This story is one of the strongest books I have read, both from a gender struggle perspective and our tendency to underestimate the logic/intelligence/capacity of 16 year olds today. Clark/Clarissa lands a job babysitting for a family whose father provides her with unlimited knowledge of computer security, operating systems and network access. Any further comments would only result in spoilers, but understand that this is a multifaceted story, Clark's battle to transition to become Clarissa, in dept computer security, hacking and the prevention of, and international intrigue as several branches of the FBI become involved.
A CRACKER JACK READ.
March 12, 2020
I don't usually review my Kindle books, because I find I run out of time, but I just wanted to put in here that the editing on this book isn't very good - far too many grammar mistakes for my liking.
If the novel had been worse, it wouldn't have got much of a rating at all, but I quite liked the overall story, though Clarissa/Clark taking so much into her/his own hands at such a young age was a bit scary! However, understanding how much knowledge and ability in computer systems can and does affect people's lives helps put things into perspective. The novel explained very well how easy it could be to falsify records, and the fact that Clark was not getting the kind of support through school, home and health care that he/she needed (despite his/her mother's obvious caring), does make it so much more believable. It also shows how transgender people feel they are different from an early age, and that it's not necessarily the same as being gay.
A thoughtful read, and would surely be better if a re-edited version is made available.
If the novel had been worse, it wouldn't have got much of a rating at all, but I quite liked the overall story, though Clarissa/Clark taking so much into her/his own hands at such a young age was a bit scary! However, understanding how much knowledge and ability in computer systems can and does affect people's lives helps put things into perspective. The novel explained very well how easy it could be to falsify records, and the fact that Clark was not getting the kind of support through school, home and health care that he/she needed (despite his/her mother's obvious caring), does make it so much more believable. It also shows how transgender people feel they are different from an early age, and that it's not necessarily the same as being gay.
A thoughtful read, and would surely be better if a re-edited version is made available.
October 15, 2017
A very entertaining story
Clark is transgender and has known since he was four that he wants to be a women. But the world does not go easy on people not following the “normal” path so he takes drastic steps to follow his dream of being Clarissa.
I liked this book very much and it’s a book that I believe can give young people struggling with similar life challenges a hope and something to dream about. This is my personal opinion and I have no connections to the LGBT community, I have only my life experiences to guide me in saying so.
The writing style is easygoing and and have no unnecessary descriptions of surroundings so it was a easy read. The only thing that was a little confusing is that there was many POV throughout the book, but that’s just a minor detail.
The book was good and I recommend it for anyone because we can all learn something about respecting all people no matter how “different” they are from us.
Clark is transgender and has known since he was four that he wants to be a women. But the world does not go easy on people not following the “normal” path so he takes drastic steps to follow his dream of being Clarissa.
I liked this book very much and it’s a book that I believe can give young people struggling with similar life challenges a hope and something to dream about. This is my personal opinion and I have no connections to the LGBT community, I have only my life experiences to guide me in saying so.
The writing style is easygoing and and have no unnecessary descriptions of surroundings so it was a easy read. The only thing that was a little confusing is that there was many POV throughout the book, but that’s just a minor detail.
The book was good and I recommend it for anyone because we can all learn something about respecting all people no matter how “different” they are from us.
January 30, 2020
A quick, engaging read, if you want a slice of the completely unrealistic. There's a constant sense of intrigue, what will happen next! I enjoy that Clarissa's so geeky and fully fleshed out as an individual and not a cliche. Well, not a cliche until the very ending at least. She is still a wonderful character.
But hacking Tony for $100k and setting up multiple identities (with credible medical and school records) at 16 yrs old with only maybe 6 months tech training, and then leaving the country is ridiculous, even for "a genius"? And only gets a slap on the wrist for multiple felony level (albeit nonviolent) white collar cyber crimes? The level of what she was able to accomplish in such a little amount of time (which the tech guys in the book drool over) was totally absurd. Fun, but pure Catch Me If You Can sort of crazy.
Also, sexual assault triggers, abuse of minors, and rape, and blackmail, and threatened hate crimes.
But hacking Tony for $100k and setting up multiple identities (with credible medical and school records) at 16 yrs old with only maybe 6 months tech training, and then leaving the country is ridiculous, even for "a genius"? And only gets a slap on the wrist for multiple felony level (albeit nonviolent) white collar cyber crimes? The level of what she was able to accomplish in such a little amount of time (which the tech guys in the book drool over) was totally absurd. Fun, but pure Catch Me If You Can sort of crazy.
Also, sexual assault triggers, abuse of minors, and rape, and blackmail, and threatened hate crimes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 23, 2018
Well paced with a likeable main character who suffers from a horrible amount of bullying and discrimination - it's always good to read a book that doesn't shy away from the reality of this. As a reader you root for Clarissa and wish for the people in her life to wake up and understand what she is going through to alleviate some of her isolation and sadness.
I have to admit I struggled with the pronoun switches in the third person narrative however, in places it made sense but at other times it felt like the narrative was misgendering the MC. Also, there were a lot of typos/missing words in my copy which let the book down and pulled me out of the story a bit as I find them distracting. Good do with a quick edit so as not to let down the otherwise solid book.
I have to admit I struggled with the pronoun switches in the third person narrative however, in places it made sense but at other times it felt like the narrative was misgendering the MC. Also, there were a lot of typos/missing words in my copy which let the book down and pulled me out of the story a bit as I find them distracting. Good do with a quick edit so as not to let down the otherwise solid book.
November 5, 2017
RUN CLARISSA RUN
VERY GOOD BOOK. THE ONLY DRAWBACK I FOUND WAS THE AMOUNT OF GRAMMATICAL ERRORS IN THIS STORY, BUT WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM A AMAZON FREE BOOK. I CAN ALSO SYMPATHIZE WITH THE AUTHOR BEING ABLE TO WRITE AT ALL. I LEARNED IN HER BIO THAT SHE IS ADHD ADULT.SO IT MUST BE HARD TO BE A WRITER WITH THAT LEVEL OF FOCUS. BUT SHE DOES AND I COULD FROM READING THIS STORY THAT IT WAS INDEED A VERY PERSONAL ONE. WELL DONE.
VERY GOOD BOOK. THE ONLY DRAWBACK I FOUND WAS THE AMOUNT OF GRAMMATICAL ERRORS IN THIS STORY, BUT WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM A AMAZON FREE BOOK. I CAN ALSO SYMPATHIZE WITH THE AUTHOR BEING ABLE TO WRITE AT ALL. I LEARNED IN HER BIO THAT SHE IS ADHD ADULT.SO IT MUST BE HARD TO BE A WRITER WITH THAT LEVEL OF FOCUS. BUT SHE DOES AND I COULD FROM READING THIS STORY THAT IT WAS INDEED A VERY PERSONAL ONE. WELL DONE.
November 17, 2017
Could be better
Good story for the most part, but it clearly wasn't edited by a professional. There are a lot of grammar and spelling errors as well as odd jumps between scenes. Half of the book is characters explaining the plot to us, and they all have the same voice, which gets pretty old.
I like the story, though, and would've given more stars I'd it was tighter and had less errors.
Good story for the most part, but it clearly wasn't edited by a professional. There are a lot of grammar and spelling errors as well as odd jumps between scenes. Half of the book is characters explaining the plot to us, and they all have the same voice, which gets pretty old.
I like the story, though, and would've given more stars I'd it was tighter and had less errors.
August 5, 2018
Great story
Great story, but the writing is a little half-baked. It takes you on a whirlwind journey, and covers a range of topics and ideas, including some very important ones around gender identity. A bit more copy editing world go a long way. If you can look past that, it's difficult to put down.
Great story, but the writing is a little half-baked. It takes you on a whirlwind journey, and covers a range of topics and ideas, including some very important ones around gender identity. A bit more copy editing world go a long way. If you can look past that, it's difficult to put down.
October 21, 2017
Recommended reading
Loved it! My only gripe is that the book doesn't seem incredibly well formatted on Kindle. But the story is very well written and interesting enough that it barely bothered me at all.
Loved it! My only gripe is that the book doesn't seem incredibly well formatted on Kindle. But the story is very well written and interesting enough that it barely bothered me at all.
October 24, 2017
Page Turner!
The pace was great, the characters real, relatable. The action authentic. I was riveted from beginning to end. I wanted to know what was going to happen all the way.
4/5 because, the typos annoyed me. But the story was fantastic
The pace was great, the characters real, relatable. The action authentic. I was riveted from beginning to end. I wanted to know what was going to happen all the way.
4/5 because, the typos annoyed me. But the story was fantastic
October 14, 2020
Marvelous
I have read this book many times and live it more each time. As a transgender female who was forced to wait till she was 50 to begin her transition,this book is a source of joy. Thank you for this story.
I have read this book many times and live it more each time. As a transgender female who was forced to wait till she was 50 to begin her transition,this book is a source of joy. Thank you for this story.
December 24, 2018
Overall: 3/5 Stars
Characters: 2/5
Setting: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Plot and Themes: 3/5
Awesomeness Factor: 3/5
Characters: 2/5
Setting: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Plot and Themes: 3/5
Awesomeness Factor: 3/5
July 4, 2019
Well written and it kept my attention as I was engrossed in Clarissa's story.
November 14, 2021
this was really good, a coming out story mixed with some directions it went in that I didn't expect at all, but enjoyed a ton.
July 28, 2024
Great story
I have enjoyed this fun heartfelt adventure of young man that knew that he was not who he was supposed to be and did what she had to do to make it right.
I have enjoyed this fun heartfelt adventure of young man that knew that he was not who he was supposed to be and did what she had to do to make it right.
January 10, 2020
Run, Clarissa, Run – Rachel Eliason (20 chapters)
Reading transgender YA stories are typical very hard on me, the youth involved are usually bullied; adults don’t tend to understand the minds of transgenders; and the stories end up with no HEA. That's probably why I ended up not reading this for quite awhile after I downloaded this book.
That's not to say that this book is bad. (Aside: There are typos and wrong word choices here, but I suggest readers read the disclaimer and foreword at the beginning of the book first. Normally I don’t read those either, but there is some deep insight into the author's mind behind this story and reading this one is well worth the reader's time.)
I have read this author before, and her human interest stories have so far been very well paced. This one was no different. I found myself completely engaged in her world. The characters were fully developed; the plot was interesting enough to keep me involved; the page count was just about perfect. These characters feel so real. (The ending gets a little “out-there” but still the story felt mostly believable.)
My issue was that I felt impending doom for these characters. Perhaps I was reading into the story as I read it. But I kept having to walk away from it at every bad turn. But as I kept wondering how it was going to resolve, I found myself returning the story. Yes, reluctantly, but also, because I really wanted to know how the protagonist was going to come out. I felt very connected and found myself caring a great deal for this character. (Maybe it’s the parental factor in me coming out.)
It seemed a bygone conclusion that what the protagonist wanted the most would happen, and as I read the story it became apparent as the author subtly made the change to using the Clarissa/she pronoun more and more when the character was present. But getting there was an interesting ride. I’m glad I took it. But.
I won't lie: I cried at the end. It was very emotional for all members of her family. It was heartbreaking, but it was hopeful as well. (Again, maybe it’s the parental factor in me coming out.)
This is another winner from Ms. Eliason. She really knows how to write a story, (even if a good editor needs to read through it.) I enjoy this one, and I think whether you are transgendered or not, individuals (because those, like myself, who are not still seek to love and understand them,) will appreciate the story. This one feels very personal. And it should be. Transgender authors tend to know firsthand the pains at being themselves. Ms. Eliason doesn't sugar-coat the real.
Four stars.
Reading transgender YA stories are typical very hard on me, the youth involved are usually bullied; adults don’t tend to understand the minds of transgenders; and the stories end up with no HEA. That's probably why I ended up not reading this for quite awhile after I downloaded this book.
That's not to say that this book is bad. (Aside: There are typos and wrong word choices here, but I suggest readers read the disclaimer and foreword at the beginning of the book first. Normally I don’t read those either, but there is some deep insight into the author's mind behind this story and reading this one is well worth the reader's time.)
I have read this author before, and her human interest stories have so far been very well paced. This one was no different. I found myself completely engaged in her world. The characters were fully developed; the plot was interesting enough to keep me involved; the page count was just about perfect. These characters feel so real. (The ending gets a little “out-there” but still the story felt mostly believable.)
My issue was that I felt impending doom for these characters. Perhaps I was reading into the story as I read it. But I kept having to walk away from it at every bad turn. But as I kept wondering how it was going to resolve, I found myself returning the story. Yes, reluctantly, but also, because I really wanted to know how the protagonist was going to come out. I felt very connected and found myself caring a great deal for this character. (Maybe it’s the parental factor in me coming out.)
It seemed a bygone conclusion that what the protagonist wanted the most would happen, and as I read the story it became apparent as the author subtly made the change to using the Clarissa/she pronoun more and more when the character was present. But getting there was an interesting ride. I’m glad I took it. But.
I won't lie: I cried at the end. It was very emotional for all members of her family. It was heartbreaking, but it was hopeful as well. (Again, maybe it’s the parental factor in me coming out.)
This is another winner from Ms. Eliason. She really knows how to write a story, (even if a good editor needs to read through it.) I enjoy this one, and I think whether you are transgendered or not, individuals (because those, like myself, who are not still seek to love and understand them,) will appreciate the story. This one feels very personal. And it should be. Transgender authors tend to know firsthand the pains at being themselves. Ms. Eliason doesn't sugar-coat the real.
Four stars.
May 15, 2013
Clark remembers wanting to be a woman as early as age four. Wanting isn't really the right word. He feels like he already is female on the inside. His teenage years have been a nightmare—no one understands him or takes him seriously when he tries to talk about being transgender. He doesn't think of himself as a he at all. He thinks of himself as Clarissa, a female.
There was one passage in particular that really affected me and helped my understanding of transgender people in general. In that passage, Clarissa talks about the fact that everyone else (even her therapist!) thinks of her as a gay male because she has a boy's body and is admittedly attracted to other boys. She, however, always denies being gay, and explains it by saying that the thought of two males being together sexually does not arouse her. It sounds like such a simple explanation, but it really made things click into place in my mind. I think I get it now.
As confusing as it is for me to figure out whether to use "he" or "she" while writing this review, there was never any confusion in the novel. There were times when Clark was referred to as "he" and other times as "she". The author did a great job of showing the complications involved without causing reader confusion.
It was difficult reading about the physical and verbal abuse Clark experienced throughout the story. My heart ached for him and wished he could just live openly as Clarissa. That's what he really wanted, and it's what I wanted for him. It was even more difficult to watch what happened with Tony, the first person to really accept Clarissa and make her feel good about herself. But rest assured, Clarissa is a strong and very smart girl. Once she figured out who she was and what she wanted, there was no stopping her!
Overall, a thought-provoking and enjoyable read. I only wish the book had been professionally edited. There were dozens of typographical errors that should have been picked up in proofreading (more noticeable in the latter part of the book).
There was one passage in particular that really affected me and helped my understanding of transgender people in general. In that passage, Clarissa talks about the fact that everyone else (even her therapist!) thinks of her as a gay male because she has a boy's body and is admittedly attracted to other boys. She, however, always denies being gay, and explains it by saying that the thought of two males being together sexually does not arouse her. It sounds like such a simple explanation, but it really made things click into place in my mind. I think I get it now.
As confusing as it is for me to figure out whether to use "he" or "she" while writing this review, there was never any confusion in the novel. There were times when Clark was referred to as "he" and other times as "she". The author did a great job of showing the complications involved without causing reader confusion.
It was difficult reading about the physical and verbal abuse Clark experienced throughout the story. My heart ached for him and wished he could just live openly as Clarissa. That's what he really wanted, and it's what I wanted for him. It was even more difficult to watch what happened with Tony, the first person to really accept Clarissa and make her feel good about herself. But rest assured, Clarissa is a strong and very smart girl. Once she figured out who she was and what she wanted, there was no stopping her!
Overall, a thought-provoking and enjoyable read. I only wish the book had been professionally edited. There were dozens of typographical errors that should have been picked up in proofreading (more noticeable in the latter part of the book).
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