Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson is a perfect summer read. Absolutely perfect!
In a nutshell the book is about a road trip that two people, Amy and Roger, take from California to the East Coast. Amy's mother has moved to Connecticut and leaves Amy behind in California to finish high school. Now Amy is to drive the family car across country to join her mother. Roger, the son of a family friend, agrees to come along and do the driving since he is spending the summer with his father in Pennsylvania, anyway. Thus begins the road trip which should only take four days, if they follow the route the Amy's mother mapped out for them. But the duo decide to take a few detours. In the process they find out a lot about America and about themselves.
I love this story. I love the beginning, the middle, and the ending. I wanted the pair to continue taking detours so that the book would go on and on and I would vicariously visit other spots in the USA. I didn't want the book to end. But when it did, I jumped up and went to my computer and opened up iTunes to listen to as many of the songs as I could find from the many playlists mentioned in the book. I hadn't really noticed until I did this how the titles of the songs actually related to each current adventure/detour. Very clever!
Many of my blogging friends have read and reviewed this book this summer, which is why I got interested in the book in the first place. But one reviewer said that she didn't think it was appropriate for high school students. I actually think that older high school girls will like this novel a lot. It does contain some mature subject matter, but not much, and what it does have is probably tamer than most books that girls read these days.
I've never been on a road trip of this nature but now I want to go on one. I want to get in the car and have a final destination in mind but not a specific plan of how and when I'll get there. And when I do take my epic road trip, I want to have a journal to fill up just like Amy did in Amy and Roger's Epic Detour. Summer is not quite over. Quick! Pick up this book and enjoy the trip!
***This is great trailer for the book but it does contain a few spoilers.
I've heard such good things about this book! Thank you for reminding me that it is out there!
ReplyDeleteVery good review. Like that you put the trailer at the end of the review. Love seeing book trailers. New follower. Come visit me over at Livre De Amour-Books of Love Blog.
ReplyDeleteI really want to read this now! Trouble is where I live summer is definitely already over, lol. :)
ReplyDeleteI loved this book as well. Such an amazing story about letting go. Lovely pick.
ReplyDeleteHave you read anything by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan? You might like "Dash & Lily's Book of Dares" (that is if you haven't read it).
Your newest follower,
Marissa @ And many to read before I sleep
So glad you enjoyed it, Anne! I loved this book, too. We take road trips every year, so I really enjoyed the travel parts, especially since they went to some places we've been before.
ReplyDeleteAnd I loved the playlists because I do the same thing for our trips! Not quite as extensive as Roger's, but I often make CDs to go wlong with our trip - like this year, I made one filled with California songs!
A fun book and well-written, too.
Sue