Running by Natalia Sylvester (Book Review)

When fifteen-year-old Cuban American Mariana Ruiz’s father runs for president, Mari starts to see him with new eyes. A novel about waking up and standing up, and what happens when you stop seeing your dad as your hero—while the whole country is watching.

In this thoughtful, authentic, humorous, and gorgeously written novel about privacy, waking up, and speaking up, Senator Anthony Ruiz is running for president. Throughout his successful political career he has always had his daughter’s vote, but a presidential campaign brings a whole new level of scrutiny to sheltered fifteen-year-old Mariana and the rest of her Cuban American family, from a 60 Minutes–style tour of their house to tabloids doctoring photos and inventing scandals. As tensions rise within the Ruiz family, Mari begins to learn about the details of her father’s political positions, and she realizes that her father is not the man she thought he was.

But how do you find your voice when everyone’s watching? When it means disagreeing with your father—publicly? What do you do when your dad stops being your hero? Will Mari get a chance to confront her father? If she does, will she have the courage to seize it? (taken from goodreads.com)

Mari has always stood back and watched her father do what he does, which is dazzling the American people. But as Mari gets older, she sees that there are thing about her fathers campaign that are hurting people rather than helping. He claims to be a person for Florida, and dedicated to helping other immigrants but thats not how his campaign is being run. When Mari decides to speak up, she causes more trouble than she thought. Is it worth it?

This was the October pick for The Stoney Clover Lane book club and I loved this one!

Mari has always gone along with what she’s been told but now she’s finally taking a stand. When reading the story, Mari has the most character growth I have seen in a long time.

She uses her voice to help others and slowly her mother realizes she’s right too.

The different relationships in this book are fun, sweet, meaningful and filled with a lot of depth.

I highly recommend checking this one out!