As I type this a barge is going by, headed to Crown Bay to unload. This is the low season so there won't be as many ships, cruise or otherwise. Because of insurance the luxury boats are headed south or north for the summer, out of the hurricane zone, so Crown Bay Marina is about empty. This is hurricane season and the locals say it is going to be a stormy one because it has been so hot.

Read Carl Deuker's Runner - a Houghton Mifflin novel I picked it up because of the cool cover. Black background with red lettering for the title and the silhouette of a runner. Set in the Seattle area, 17-year-old Chance lives on a small sailboat with his alcoholic father. Stressed over his dad losing job after job and the fear that they won't be able to pay the moorage fees and have to sell the boat Chance agrees to become the runner for a smuggler. It is easy money and soon Chance is paying all the bills and even has a few dollars in his pocket to spend on Melissa, a future reporter who begins asking Chance way too many questions. Things get out of control when the types of packages change and Chance wants out. The relatively short chapters and thriller style plot will keep even reluctant readers involved in this one. A gotta have for a YA collection, just like the other Deuker titles such as Painting the Black and Night Hoops.

Off to Montessori. This is our last week with students.