Author: Dan Gemeinhart

I wish this book wasn’t labelled as young adult or juvenile fiction.

People were raving about this book and after falling in love with the cover (it kind of reminded me of Into the Wild), I picked it up. After reading the first few pages, I really wished this book wasn’t labelled for a younger audience.

The writing is beautiful, the story is compelling and the characters are rich. I blasted through this book in no time and recommended it to my wife before even finishing it (we rarely recommend books to each other unless we know for certain the other person would enjoy it).

This book is an enjoyable and heartfelt tale that takes you through the heart of family, friends, loss and the open road. It seems simple on the surface, but there’s so much in here for any audience that it’s worth recommending to anyone–especially if you love road trips.

Yes, there’s some suspension of belief that’s needed for this story to work and Gemeinhart literally packed every social issue on one bus, but all fiction has an element of escapism that’s anchored in the surreal. It’s all about whether you’re willing to let your imagination go along for the ride.

In this case, it’s worth it.