Better Than Running at Night

by Hillary Frank

Having left behind the melodrama of her solitary high school days—and the beheaded martyrs in her paintings—Ellie arrives at the New England College of Art and Design. Looking forward to the opportunity to recreate herself and her art, she begins her first day by dirty dancing with the Devil. Then she makes out with him. Ellie soon learns a lot about herself in this story about independence, trust, and boys.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Teen, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Art, Romance

272 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2002

About the author

Hillary Frank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. She is the author and illustrator of the novels Better Than Running at Night (Houghton Mifflin 2002), I Can't Tell You (Houghton Mifflin 2004), and The View From the Top (Penguin 2010). Better Than Running at Night was named a Top Ten First Youth Novel by Booklist and a Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association.

Hillary is also an independent producer for a variety of programs on public radio.

Her work has aired on This American Life, Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Studio 360, Marketplace, Day to Day, Weekend America, and Chicago Matters. She has won awards for her radio stories from the Association for Women in Communications, the National Mental Health Association, and the Third Coast International Audio Festival, one of the highest honors in public radio.

Hillary has taught courses and workshops to young and grown adults at Loyola University, River Oak Arts, Off Campus Writers' Workshop, and the City of Chicago's inner city writing program Words37. She has also appeared as a guest speaker at many schools and libraries, including the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Public Library, the Chicago Public Library, Tufts University, Simmons College, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and high schools around the country. Both Hillary's first novel and her first radio story started as unsolicited submissions, which she hopes is proof to aspiring writers that getting published really is possible.

Reviews

[Mary Vogel · Rating 1 out of 5]

All these people have the weirdest ways of thinking. The main character is anti-drug, but she smokes pot for the first time in order to forget the smell of dead raccoons and because she has a tummy ache. The guy she is seeing got mad at her for eating Dunkin Donuts with another boy, because his dad died at a McDonalds and now he hates all fast food establishments. As he throws an angry snowball against a building he yells, "I thought we had an understanding!" What the hell?! Everything in this book is completely unrealistic. She's a freshman in college and she has an on-campus apartment and no roommate. Nobody has cell phones and she checks her voicemails on an answering machine. She goes to the computer lab, which is open 24 hours a day like the rest of the classrooms, to send emails. Everyone is totally self-involved and the college is so small that everyone knows everyone else - like they're in high school. The only one who even seems like a real person is Sam, and he isn't even significant.

[Amanda Digiovanni · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a girl who moves to another country to pursue in dreams in art; especially painting. She goes to the college of her dreams and tries to become a new person instead of the typical, dark and quiet loser back in New York. She meets a boy named Nate along the way who ends up going to the same school with her and ends up controlling most of her life and feelings. He plays games with Ellie and she ends up losing herself in the process. She learns that it is a hard thing to do to get on in life when you gave your heart to someone who took it on their way out. But the other thing she realizes is that it's possible and she can find herself in the end.

"Don't tell me nothing's wrong when something's wrong." p177.
Ellie has become so lost and stuck in her mind and life that she can't even properly explain to someone what's going on with her. Once you become so immune to feeling a certain way it becomes normal to you and that's what happens to Ellie. Something is always wrong now with her and she is fighting the urge for that to become her life. She's in the process of trying to find herself also which can be hard to do when you aren't sure how you really feel.

"The thick hair- now not quite so electric." p242.
This is a really important part of the story. When Ellie would describe Nate she would often use the term "electric" describing the electric feeling and powerful connection she felt. When you lose something sometimes, you gain something better which happened in this case. Ellie gained herself back, power, and her love back. She has moved on from Nate and is now moving on with her life. It may hurt sometimes but pain is only temporary, just like the problems she faced. Something only stays in your life as long as you let it stay there. She now has more of a future for herself and can be free and happy.

[cc · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book just wasn't for me. Whether it's because I'm beginning to show my age or that it never would have been for me, I was sorely disappointed by the story.

Better Than Running at Night read more like a collection of short stories about one person than a novel and lacked any true emotional depth. It did, however, succeed in expressing the author's love of art. A love which, unfortunately, I do not acutely share and most of the references to which went far over my head.

In all, I think the art school references were exquisitely done, but the rest of the story was poorly executed. We had a boy who seemed ridiculously undesirable, parental drama that seemed to exist more for the sake of it than to actually move the story forward, and a main character who weirdly seemed to hate everyone she actually liked.

Maybe, if I'd read it when I was a freshman in college and dealing with relationship drama with a completely undesirable guy, it would have clicked for me. Unfortunately, it just didn't.

[Allison · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really expected to like this book, since it appeared to be a coming of age at art school story. But instead of being about the transition from high school to college and finding independence, it's mostly about Ellie's relationship with a sophomore womanizer. I liked the parts about her classes (the contrast between her two teachers was great, reminded me of some of what I saw while getting my art degree), and her study of anatomy, which leads her to notice the musculature of those around her. Unfortunately I feel like I never got to know her. She has already shed her high school persona when the book starts, which would have been more interesting to see than what's actually in the book. She never talks about her old classmates, which is expected even though she was a loner. I hated the character of Nate, and didn't understand how Ellie put up with his idiotic behavior (especially after he told her he'd been with LOTS of girls, and when he said she should be happy that he only fooled around with another girl because he could have done more). I'm not sure when the novel is set, but obviously before computers and cell phones became ubiquitous. I didn't understand how neither Ellie nor Nate had a roommate, or ever seemed to see, think or talk about their neighbors. But I guess the worst thing was that none of the characters have any sense of right and wrong. Ellie says that protection and sobriety are the only important things when considering sleeping with someone. She tells her father she doesn't want to smoke pot, but then she does it when her classmate offers some. Nate tells Ellie that if they don't stay friends it's all her fault, without acknowledging that he did anything wrong (ostensibly because she found out earlier that he is in an open relationship with his girlfriend Clarissa, and he has restrained himself a little since beginning to sleep with her). The last quarter to half of the book I just wanted to get through — I would have stopped, but I wanted to know what happened (especially with Sam). How can I like a book when none of the characters are likable?

[flinch · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5. I read this book for the first time before I graduated high school, high school me would have rated this a 4-5 (gave it 4 stars now for 16 yr old me).

Parts of this book have stuck with me for a long, long time. It influenced my art and creative outlook when I was doing AP Art, and it still left a strong impression 10 years after I read it. I spent over an hour trying to find this book online, since I didn't remember the title (my google search history is now slightly troubling)-and I don't normally put that much effort into finding books from my past.

The thing that bothers me about this book now is the main love interest, who is a vaguely emotionally abusive "artsy" dude. When I was younger I didn't notice it so much, or it seemed more normal for people to act that way-now i know better. The truth is just because someone makes great art, doesn't mean they're an automatically Good Person. It took me a while to learn that.

And that's kind of what this book is about: the situations that make you grow, and "know better". Like exploring your identity as a person and as an artist, questioning the type of art you have a passion for, brief encounters with substances commonly found at college, including (but not limited to) Dunkin Doughnuts, and lastly, that special kind of asshole who uses their creativity to legitimize their gross behavior (looking at you, romantic interest Nate).

This book is at its best when Ellie is talking to her first professor, making art, and talking about the kind of art she wants to create, and goes on to make. It has its flaws, but my favorite parts are Ellie talking about portraits and life drawing with her professors, her art projects, and her motivations behind her fixation with the painting "Ivan The Terrible And His Son Ivan". I would recommend this book to art kids and anyone who is a creative misfit, especially if they haven't gone off to college yet.

[Claudia Cutter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book because the title sounds really cool, but that was definitely the best part of the book. To start off, what bothered me most was the sex scenes, which read like terrible fan fiction. In one, it seriously said "He put his hands up my shirt and I did the same to him." Seriously?

The characters were very strange and underdevoloped. The protagonist is extremely boring, her only interesting trait is her hippie parents, who named her Ladybug and keep pushing her to smoke pot, but of course she hates them. I also had a really hard time understanding the characters way of thinking, because they were truly bizarre. For example, Ladybug keeps complaining about how much Nate having a girlfriend bothers her, but waits about 8 pages of terrible sex scenes to say anything. What a role model. And the thing about Nate getting angry at her for eating Dunkin Donuts because his dad died at a fast food restaurant was the weirdest thing I've ever read. I laughed reading that, but not in a good way.

I'm trying to think of something nice to say about this book, but it's very difficult. Uh, the title is pretty? The cover art was kind of cool? The descriptions in the last chapter were lovely, I suppose. I still wouldn't read this, though.

Overall, the story moved too fast and sounded like bad fanfic, the characters were underdevoloped and weird, and by the end I didn't care about them at all.

[Jessi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book surprised me with its honest portrayal of a girl's first year at art school. Ellie meets Nate at a costume party her first night staying at New England College of the Arts. He is mysterious and alluring; flattering in all the right ways. Ellie feels they are soul mates and draws lines of fate between their similar pasts. As the semester wears on, she realizes that there is more to herself than the past and quickly outgrows Nate's flighty adventurousness. She sometimes regrets her decision to leave him behind, but sticks to her resolve and moves on.

I really enjoyed this book. The descriptions of the feelings of first love were genuine. I also loved hearing about Ellies experiences in art school, having never taken art classes myself. Frank does a great job ballancing the stereotype of art for the sake of art vs serious students trying to improve their skills. I would recommend it for older readers, 16 and up for content, reading and maturity level.

[Fatima · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked that it still had real art lessons within the text. reading this made my art skills improve because I knew more.

It was so realistic that I was ok with everything that happened to Ellie. I wanted things to work out with Nate sooooo badly. I do believe he had deep feelings for her that could have possibly been love. Nate just lied too much. It was obvious that he had slept with Sloane when the bra was found in his apartment because there was no bra in his painting. When Sloane showed up at the end when Ellie was going to stop by I knew they could never had been together(or at least not in this book). I would love to see a sequel to this book, where Nate is changed and needs Ellie( maybe have his mother's relationship with her new husband show him how to devote yourself to true love.) Or just have a sequel where someone else simply loves Ellie. I book's ending left me content but I would love to see a sequel.

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this book up from a hole-in-the-wall bookstore, thinking that the title and the cover art was really something different and interesting.

About 20 pages into the book, I was starting to have doubts about my choice in picking it up. 50 pages in, I was about ready to bang my head on the desk- and I decided it wasn't worth finishing.

As the book starts off it pretty much throws you into the main character's life randomly, with hardly any backstory or description of the setting. The book continues on from this reading like a book written by some lovesick tween with dreams of grandeur about being an author. Random, horribly writ sex-scenes compose a large part of the beginning of the book, and the main character, Ellie, pretty much makes decisions for seemingly no reason or completely bizarre ones.

It was unrelatable and unrealistic, and I wouldn't recommend it.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first part of this book made me like immediately hate it. As I read on I grew 2 like it though. I found it very real and relatable. Obvi there were still some cringe part but im ignoring them. I liked this book more toward the end. I liked it more because it was more cozy and comfortable and I just knew everything better. Very tumblr.

[Sheetal Mittal · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book as it was about a teenager and her college years but as I progressed I continued finding myself criticizing the main character. Ladybug, Ellie, a naïve teenager, pursuing her career in arts falls in love with Nate, a womanizer. The story revolves around these two character describing their on-off loveless sex relationship with few other guest appearances. One of the most weirdest scene when Nate got angry with Ellie because she ate Donuts with another guy, because Nate’s father had died in a fast food restaurant. What a stupid story..!! I liked Sam’s, Ellie’s friend, character and thought it would turn out something important later but he became even more insignificant at the end. Almost all the characters are unrealistic, lack maturity and wisdom. I had high expectations from this but got disappointed.

[Melina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel unresolved.

The art stuff is great, I can relate to it considering that I'm a graphic design major now, but... yeah, that ending was very profound. I don't think many people know what it's like to be on your own or what it feels like to make true art... or if anyone knows what art is or how much work is put into it or how many people don't necessarily make it in the art career sector.

This book speaks volumes in terms of what the book jacket describes.

I also loved the figurative speech inside it. And word has it been a long time since I've wanted to finish a book as soon as possible! lol, I'm somewhat proud to say that I finished this at 4 o'clock in the morning!

First book of the year too :)

[Abby Monhollen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book wasn't as drawing as other books I normally read but for some reason I couldn't put it down. I finished it in one night and was sad when it was over. Hillary Frank does a fantastic job of creating a real world with all it's real problems. As I read this book I felt like my heart broke when Ellie's did and I was inspired when Ellie's was. This book is good for anyone who admires art seeing as this book mostly revolves around college art students but I still think anyone can find identify with this book. I loved it. -A

[tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. It was an honest, coming of age story that had twists that I didn't see coming. I found myself relating to Ellie even though we're two very different people. The thing I enjoyed the most about it was, though it was hypnotizing, there were no "fairytale" qualities about it. No smooth sailing or sugar coated actions. The characters are adolescents/college students through and through.

[Stephanie A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pros: college freshman; art school; cool character, setting, and writing style.

Cons: falls into the old college-YA-character trap of losing her virginity via a pointless hookup. She keeps trying to say it's a relationship, but it's just a series of stupid hookups with a sleazy guy, and I got less and less interested in her as a result.

[Leo Velazquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took too long to finish this little book, better late than never.i really enjoyed this book. It's very .. Different /weird than what I usually read, what I mean by that is the way the chapters are set up and the style of writing. But overall I liked it I think it's a different take on coming of age and it was done well .

[Laila Zakharia · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's ok!

[Michelle Álvarez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book up when I found it at my work place's library. I was totally attracted by its cover, so I decided to give it a try. When I read the first pages, I couldn't help to feel identified with the character: I saw myself the very previous week having a similar situation with a boy I did not know very well and continuing this informal affair for a few days. Was this book written for me, a newly college student that struggled with adult life and tried to feel better by having informal sex? I wouldn't know, my break came to an end and my library didn't lend books, not even to teachers like me who could do literally whatever we wanted!

I was sad, yes, because I am not very fond of libraries that tend to have way too many people talking and doing everything but reading, which was the case of this one, and I didn't visit it a lot. The librarian was my friend, though, and promised me to ask her boss if she could lend me the book. I visited the place a few times, the answer was always evasive, until they told me that it wasn't possible. I knew I couldn't find the book anywhere else, because it was in English and that's very rare in my city. I was anxious, what would happen to Ellie? To the Devil? What would happen to me? I needed to know.

So, with a friend's help, I stole the book from the library. I knew they wouldn't notice. I was not proud of this, but I was planning to put it back as soon as I finished. I could finally get to see what would happen to my beloved Ellie, who seemed to have so much in common with me.

Now, looking back, I feel stupid. As I read, my excitement was quickly dying. Forced conversations. Stupid situations. Weird ass characters (too weird to be true). And of course, a dull, not lovable, and passive main character. Had I really stolen THIS book? Had I really put my job at risk... for THIS?

Truly disappointing. Not worth stealing. Thank you, next.

[(a)lyss(a) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You know, I look around at all these girls and I find myself comparing them to you and they're just not as good. Life's one big competition to them. But you seem to be above all that."

This book really surprised me and I'd give it a solid 3.5 stars.

The writing is at times fragmented and confusing but the content really grabbed me. It's a tough read at times but it's a very honest portrayal of a girls first love, or perception of love, and a step in finding herself. Nate is every shallow, self-obsessed, man who is looking for a manic pixie dream girl to make himself feel better. Ellie (admittedly I have a soft spot for the name Ladybug more) is experiencing the all too familiar feeling of a self destructive crush where she tries to be the girl that Nate is looking for while also trying to convince herself she's not doing it for him. It's hard to not want to scream at her that he's a loser and she should move on and cut her losses because she is so much better off without him but we see Ellie struggle with her feelings and try to make art and generally live out the painful experience of being a teenage girl.

There's not a whole lot of other conflict in this book than Ellie being in love. Despite the rift she claims to have with her father they seemed surprisingly close throughout the story and Ellie seemed pretty invested in her art so I never felt like much was on the line.

This is really a story about the experience of a first love but I can see how the writing style and short chapters aren't for everyone.

[Kaity · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book around 5 years when I was att attending art school, it felt relatable at the time. My ADHD caused me to never finish it and leave on a shelf.Until one day I got a random urge to read.

I really enjoyed the main character of this book because I related to her in a lot of ways. Like being the goth kinda kid in high school and wanting to find a different part of yourself as you age into an adult and gain independence. I however hated the love interest of this book. Nate reminded me of the definition of toxicity. He wanted to use Ellie so bad for his own comfort, yet didnt really want to comfort her when she asked for it. I guess the only redeemable thing could be his honesty. That he doesn't want serious things and just like sleeping with people. He'd be even worse if he'd lied.

The story overall was well written, I really connected with the authors character and it took me back to my early days in art school. The ending felt rushed; I had some questions and didn't feel very satisfied with the main characters decisions.

[Mazy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was gifted a box of books from some friends who were moving out of state and really liked the title. I wanted to like it, but I really felt like the author could have done so much more. The characters feel a bit under-developed and the plot rushed. The over all concepts and themes were excellent.

This book asks a lot of questions about definitions: What is art? What is a father? What is a relationship? This story adequately illustrates what it's like trying to find those answers as a young adult. The main character grows as a person during her first year in college, but this portrayal of growth feels coerced, as if the author only wrote what she felt the readers wanted to hear. I believe this could be a better story had it been edited a bit more and a few details made more believable (How does a college freshman get an apartment without a roommate? How does her family afford to live in Manhattan? How is she only taking one class at a time?)

[Stefanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must have read this book at least three times between the ages of 14 - 16, and when the library weeded it, I picked it up at their book sale.

And now, I'm really not sure why. It's not badly written, just boring. Ellie plods about her first year at art school, only making default friends (the only two kids in her class, and the first guy she kisses at a party) and doing absolutely nothing with her time other than drawing. Maybe I thought she was cool? She isn't. Maybe I was intrigued by the idea of how easy it was to meet someone and sleep with them? That part is true, and therefore no longer interesting.

I think it's one of those books you really have to read at the right age or you won't ever sink into it.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m hovering somewhere between 2 and 3 stars.

The characters in this were something else. Nate was like the worst guy you ever meet in college. Fine, I get it. For the story, I’ll go with it but the guy was the worst.

But Ellie, and for that matter, every other women in the book were so meek, one dimensional, and accepting of his behavior I honestly thought that the author of the book was a man and we were stuck in the whole man-can’t-write-woman-characters thing, but no. A woman wrote this. And that actually makes it worse.

Like honestly in 3 weeks when I think about this book I think I’ll remember Nate more clearly than Ellie and I hate that.

[Mia Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, do not take any dating advice from this book. The main character’s actions are not good for her. But in the long run she takes a bad situationship and is learning to find her true self. While the story doesn’t necessarily have a complete plot… it does make some good points and issues with art school. If you haven’t been to art school, it won’t make much sense. But, the ones that have will get it. It made me realize some things about my own experiences in school. A decent story if you had similar experiences with art school and that 3 month situationship that changed your perspective on life and everything involved with it.

[Dante Ashby · Rating 2 out of 5]

It seems to me I have the displeasure of picking up books about people who do absolutely nothing for over 200 pages but record the most monotonous inane things that happen to them. The book was a good read but I would have enjoyed it more if I were still in high school or fresh out of college. I don't think that anything I didn't already expect to happen didn't happen. I don't want to seem like I'm tearing the book apart but everyone was flat and one dimensional and the foreshadowing throughout ruined any chance of a surprise that could of been offered. It just fell flat.

[Kelsey Noble · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think some of the reviews are too harsh. The book is set in the nineties (this is explicitly said in the book) and was published in 2002, so that explains the lack of cell phones and the computer lab. I think it's a very realistic portrayal of a young woman trying to figure out who she is in a new setting after letting go of her previous image. I first read this in high school and over ten years later it still holds up for me. The short scenes and sparse writing remind me of Nina LaCour's writing style.

[Grace Marier · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book absolutely healed me. The timing of me getting this book was so convenient. I purchased it in August, I was still with my ex and I was rooting for Ellie and Nate, then he dumped me and I started noticing how toxic Nate was. And the timeline just goes on and on until I hated Nate and I watched Ellie heal in a way that was so familiar to me, it’s like we were going through the same feelings in different worlds and it really has helped me learn how to move on and be happy. This is hands down the best book I’ve ever read.

[Rya Bean! · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is genuinely one of my favorites of all time. I really loved the way the story was told and the symbolism throughout. I was in my school's library when I saw the cover, it immediately stood out to me. I swear once I had it in my hands, they began to buzz. Please give this beautiful book a read. I stumbled across it on accidnet and it's one of my favorites still.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second time reading this book, but first time as an adult. As someone who went to a New England art school, I can say with full confidence this book is written from experience. The professors, the assignments, the egos and the horrible boys…all ring true. I love this book for the super size dose of nostalgia it brings me, even if it is bittersweet.

[Michu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even though I read this book many years ago I constantly think about the main character finding photos of Jim Morrison among her mother’s things and believing that he was her father. A very funny thing to add to the story, really. Other than that, this book was pretty weak and let me with the feeling that I had finished a chore I didn’t really enjoy. An extra star for the Jim Morrison bit.