SOLVED. A book for children? Main character ran away, whole book was very dreamlike. [s]

[Christine]

The main character was a kid with a dad. He didn't have a mom, and at one point it was brought up to his class when the teacher asked what their parents did, and he said that he didn't have a mom. He said that it wasn't that she died or left or anything but he just didn't have a mom? One other kid said their dad created the pool and her mom made the diving board and that was how they met.

The main kid ran away and ended up in a small village and lived in the house of some man. The entire house was very dreamlike, at least that's how I remember it. They were eating and made some comment about clocks and seconds, like a joke, and another time mentioned that broken clocks are right once a day (not twice from what I remember). The man never locked his door and the kid asked him like don't people break in? and the man said something along the lines of people can't break in if the door is locked.

I read the book maybe 5ish years ago and I remember it being new, but it might've not been.

[Christine]

More things I remember:
There was something to do with puppets. The old man might've carved them or carved things in general.
The boy ran away before sunrise I think? I'm pretty sure that dew was mentioned.
The unlocked door conversation was during a walk that I think was in the early morning.
There were a lot of quotes that didn't make a lot of sense. Most of them were quotes or sayings most people knew but different if I remember right.

[Andria]

Sounds like Noah Barleywater Runs Away

[Christine]

Andria wrote: "Sounds like Noah Barleywater Runs Away" thanks!

[Kris]

Christine, I see your request is marked Solved. Glad you found your book.