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Breakout by Paul Fleischman

Summary

Del makes a break from her old life in Los Angeles when she buys an old, beat-up car and heads out on the freeway, only to be caught up in a massive traffic jam.

Booktalk

Read from page 1: “The car coughed all the way down the freeway entrance, gargled raucously with each change of gear, then shivered like a fever patient when Del tried to take it above sixty. The seat springs were shot, leaving her butt below sea level and her knees in the clouds. The right outside mirror had been lost somewhere on life’s journey. The wheels pulled strongly to the left. An otherworldly whine issued from the air vents. The “Service Engine Soon” light flickered on, then went out – a messenger shot in the back. It was an ’83 Datsun, born before CD players, power locks, air bags. On the plus side, the worn leather steering-wheel cover felt homey. And the car was hers.” Barely 17, desperate, and not knowing brake fluid from fudge syrup, Del is leaving town. Leaving L.A. For good. She’s trying to escape the heat, a crummy foster home, the endless Ferris wheel of social workers, therapists and assessments and get a new life somewhere cool and green. She’s faked her death, left her lava lamp and new Doc Martens behind and assumed a new identity that includes a shorn head and baseball caps. She’s headed out on the freeway playing the breakout scene from Armed and Dangerous in her mind and letting out screams of joy. Until she hits the traffic jam. Just a few miles from where she started. The cars are not moving. And Del’s worried that someone’s going to find out that she’s not who she says she is, that the old Del is not dead, that she’s not out of L.A. yet. Will the traffic start moving again before it’s too late?

124 pages, 9th grade and up

Discussion questions

Warning! Some of the questions contain key elements of the plot. Do not read if you don't want to know what happens!

  1. What was Del’s life like in Los Angeles? How does she try to hide her escape? Is there anything she is going to miss about LA? What is she looking forward to?
  2. Describe a couple of the people in the traffic jam. How do they deal with being stuck for a long period of time? How would you react if you were in the same situation?
  3. Some people try to take advantage of the traffic jam. How do they do that? Would you?
  4. Why do you think the author chose to tell the story from two points of view (Del and her older self, Elena)? Does this work?
  5. Describe Del as a teenager. How is she different from her twenty-something persona, Elena Franco?
  6. If you could escape your present life, where would you go? What would you want to do? How would you plan your escape?

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Snacks: Winchell’s Donuts, California rolls, Hostess Twinkies, Power Bars, soda pop, bottled water.

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