This story takes place on a farm in Alabama in 1888. The main character, Sarah, tells about a sick Apache boy they find in their barn. The boy, named Sky, has escaped from a train taking him away to an Indian reservation. Sky is very ill and will die unless he receives help. Sarah and her mother care for the boy, giving him traditional medicines and herbs. After three days, Sky’s fever breaks. When he wakes up, Sky is afraid and confused because he doesn’t know where he is or what has happened to him. He refuses to eat the food that Sarah and her mother give him. When Sarah’s father comes into the room and explains what has happened, Sky feels more comfortable and begins to eat.
Literary Words
• dialect: the way people speak in a specific
region
• mood: the atmosphere or feeling of the
literary work
• suspense: a feeling of excitement or anxiety
that comes from not knowing what will
happen next
Academic Words:
- appropriate = suitable for a particular time, situation, or purpose
- communicate = express your thoughts and feelings so that others understand them
- period = a particular length of time in historyor in a person’s life
- precise = exact and correct in every detail
Word Study: Uses of the Apostrophe
A contraction is a word that is made up of two words that have been shortened into one. An apostrophe is a mark of punctuation that
shows where letters have been left out in contractions. An apostrophe is also used in dialect to show that letters are missing.
Highlighted Words:
- infect, spread disease throughout
- impurities, poisons, or unclean substances that cause sickness
- quinine, a drug used for treating fevers
- larger than life, important and exciting
- suspecting, thinking that
- consent, permission
- sap, drain
- for the time being, for now
- homesickness, feelings of sadness when away from home
- diseases, illnesses
- commenced to, began
- business, personal responsibility or task
- Geronimo, a famous Apache chief who fought to protect his people’s lands
- guidance, help and advice
- out of the woods, out of trouble
- triumphant, victorious
- bone tired, extremely tired
- rile, anger or upset
- put out, hurt or unfairly treated
- patient, person getting medical care
- addled his brain, confused him
- grits, crushed dried corn that is cooked and eaten for breakfast
- hanging on every word, listening closely to every word
- tote, carry
- put myself in Sky’s shoes, put myself in his place
- attending to, taking care of
- personal, private
Patricia C. McKissack based Run Away Home
in part on a family story her great-uncle told
about her great-great-great-great-grandfather,
who was a Native American. She has written
numerous award-winning novels and nonfiction
books. McKissack sometimes writes biographies
and nonfiction books with her husband, and she has also written
one book, Black Diamond: The Story of the Negro Baseball Leagues,
with her son.
GRAMMAR, USAGE, AND MECHANICS
Simple and Compound Sentences:
Remember that a sentence is a group of words that expresses a
complete thought. A simple sentence has a subject and a verb.
Good writers include sentences of varying lengths in their writing.
When you want to combine two simple sentences, use a coordinating
conjunction, such as and, but, or or. This will make your writing flow
better. Two simple sentences joined by a coordinating conjunction
form a compound sentence. When joining two simple sentences,
you usually place a comma before the coordinating conjunction.
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