What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

I have a good friend who has been searching for a specific book for ages. He has tried posting about it online, but with no luck. I offered to post about it here, and he sent me the below information. Please help!


"Story about runaway kid and trucker with heart problem driving Brockway truck pulling car carrier trailer.

I have searched high and low for this but am left needing someone's help. This is a chapter book, maybe bordering on young adult? Fiction, over 100 pages. Timeframe of publishing would probably be late 1960s-1970s. Setting in book would be then-present day USA. I was in middle school when I read it, it was a used book, and definitely not new at the time. This book left an impression on me and I got rid of it at some point, totally regret it!
Plot and characters:
⦁ the two main characters are a boy/teen who runs away from home and a trucker that picks him up hitchhiking
⦁ book explicitly states the semi truck driven is a Brockway colored gold or yellow, and it is pulling a loaded car carrier trailer. I want to say the trip was between the US and Canada border. Could be US and Mexico too, but I'm leaning towards Canada.
⦁ Trucker has a heart problem, needs to take medication at multiple points in the story. The medicine is a pill. I remember the one time he had to take the pill without water because he was cutting it close and did not have access to water at that moment.
⦁ trucker mistimes medication or it wasn'e enough and ultimately dies
⦁ boy/teen takes over for trucker to finish his delivery of cars, but is stopped/caught at either a toll plaza or a border crossing between US and Canada. I believe he was too young to drive a semi truck and/or had no license.
⦁ there were scenes of the two eating at restaurants/truck stops along the way.
Physical appearance of book:
⦁ Hardbound, had a library binding similar to HNM Perma-Bound. Possibly originally a paperback before getting said binding.
⦁ background that wasn't the cover was blue.
⦁ If memory serves me right dimensions were similar to this other book I have: 4" x 7" and close to half an inch thick.
⦁ I believe the cover picture had a yellow/gold semi truck pulling a car carrier, possibly in some dramatic pose.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and possibly help reunite me with this book!"

Juan's Eighteen-Wheeler Summer?

I know you said you think it was published '60s or '70s, but when did your friend read it?

I do not think that is the book, but thanks for commenting.

He read it in either the late 1990's or early 2000's, but he says it was certainly not published then, it was published much earlier. He bought it at a book sale, and he said he thinks it was an ex-library book.

Runaway?

But the MC is a girl and it's under 100 pages.

Rainbowheart wrote: "Runaway?

But the MC is a girl and it's under 100 pages."

It looks likely! One of the chapters is titled "Heart attack": https://archive.org/details/runawaymi...

He said he thought it was a boy, but thank you so much for the suggestion. Do you have any other great ideas? We really appreciate the help.

He can register on archive.org (the link in my comment above), borrow the book and read it. Do let us know if it's confirmed if it's the book or not.

I sent him the link. Thanks for your help. I don't think that's the book, though, so if anybody has any other ideas, I'd love to hear them. :-)

Was your friend able to confirm or rule out Runaway?

If it wasn't that one, he might also want to check the Runaways in YA and Middle Grade Fiction list.

I sent him the link to this post, and I'll let you know what he says when he gets the chance to go through the recommended books. He did say that he swears it was about a boy, not a girl, though. Thank you so much for all your help! Any more great ideas, anybody?

S. (OP) left the group. Moving to Abandoned folder.