Ever since her parents' divorce, Auden, mentally old for her age, has been unable to sleep. In an uncharacteristic move, she decides to spend her summer before college away from her demanding mother and at the home of her selfish father, her girly stepmother, and her new baby half-sister.
What happens to Auden at the sleepy beach town of Colby is not what she expects. For once in her life, she just might be making friends, and there's this guy, Eli, who has a troubled past and is unable to sleep too. Together they make it a quest to rediscover Auden's unclaimed childhood, so that maybe, after knowing how it is to be a child, Auden can ready herself to take on the world and the future.
Once again, Sarah Dessen doesn't disappoint. ALONG FOR THE RIDE is another nearly perfect example of Sarah's unique ability to perfectly blend backstory, stellar characterization, and lessons in family, romance, and self-esteem to create the quintessential coming-of-age story.
Sarah's greatest strength is probably in characterization. Every single character in this book is genuine, unique, and sympathetic. Auden's parents are despicable to the point where you want to scream at them whenever they appear in the book, and yet at the same time you're able to totally understand why they act the way they do. Auden's maturation from too-serious young adult to someone who is able to say her mind and let herself feel what she wants to feel is the kind of change that makes for a great feel-good story.
ALONG FOR THE RIDE will please Dessen fans and newcomers to her books alike. It has everything we have come to expect from this amazing author. You won't be able to put it down, preferring instead to, like Auden, lose sleep in order to find out how Auden and her friends and family change for the better.
What happens to Auden at the sleepy beach town of Colby is not what she expects. For once in her life, she just might be making friends, and there's this guy, Eli, who has a troubled past and is unable to sleep too. Together they make it a quest to rediscover Auden's unclaimed childhood, so that maybe, after knowing how it is to be a child, Auden can ready herself to take on the world and the future.
Once again, Sarah Dessen doesn't disappoint. ALONG FOR THE RIDE is another nearly perfect example of Sarah's unique ability to perfectly blend backstory, stellar characterization, and lessons in family, romance, and self-esteem to create the quintessential coming-of-age story.
Sarah's greatest strength is probably in characterization. Every single character in this book is genuine, unique, and sympathetic. Auden's parents are despicable to the point where you want to scream at them whenever they appear in the book, and yet at the same time you're able to totally understand why they act the way they do. Auden's maturation from too-serious young adult to someone who is able to say her mind and let herself feel what she wants to feel is the kind of change that makes for a great feel-good story.
ALONG FOR THE RIDE will please Dessen fans and newcomers to her books alike. It has everything we have come to expect from this amazing author. You won't be able to put it down, preferring instead to, like Auden, lose sleep in order to find out how Auden and her friends and family change for the better.
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