A Runaway in Oz
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| Author | John R. Neill |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Eric Shanower |
| Cover artist | Eric Shanower |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Oz Books |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Books of Wonder |
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Publication date
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1995 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 242 pp. |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 34360375 |
| LC Class | PZ7.N4287 Ru 1995 |
The Runaway in Oz is an Oz book by long-time Oz illustrator John R. Neill. It was written originally during 1943 and was meant to be the thirty-seventh book in the Oz series. However, Neill died before he could edit or illustrate the book. Oz publisher Reilly & Lee decided not to publish the book due to shortages caused by World War II. The text remained a possession of Neill's family.
In 1995, the book was published by Oz specialty house Books of Wonder with illustrations by Eric Shanower. Shanower also edited and expanded Neill's text. Another version exists, printed privately, with different editing by Fred M. Meyer, longtime Secretary of The International Wizard of Oz Club.
On the eve of an important ceremony in the Emerald City, Scraps the Patchwork Girl has been making more of a nuisance of herself than usual. After confrontations with Jellia Jamb and Jenny Jump, Scraps decides to run away on her spoolicle (a bicycle made of thread spools). She visits Jinjur's Munchkin Country farm; but Jinjur wants to put Scraps to work, so Scraps leaves quickly.
At Prof. Wogglebug's Royal Athletic College, Scraps falls in with a 12-year-old prodigy named Alexample. They marvel at the air castle the Professor has dreamed into existence for his coming vacation, as it hovers above the college. Through unfortunate clumsiness, Scraps knocks the mooring line loose and the air castle floats away, with Alexample hanging onto the tethering rope. Scraps flees from the pursuit of the irate Wogglebug.
Scraps meets a Repairman who magically fixes the damage and staining she's endured in her recent actions. The exasperated Scraps longs to run away from Oz entirely, but doesn't know how to cross the Deadly Desert. The Repairman informs her of a Weather Witch who lives on the highest mountain in Oz; she makes weather for the entire Earth from her windmill there. Scraps decides to get the Weather Witch to blow her across the Desert with wind, and sets out for the mountain.
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