Kiss the Morning Star

Kiss the Morning Star by Elissa Janine Hoole is a road trip novel about two young women reconnecting after a tough year. They have just graduated from high school and each have their own reasons for the trip.

Kat wanted to take a road trip across the US like Jack Kerouac in her favorite book, Dharma Bums. Anna agrees to go because since her mother died in a fire, she and her father have been sort of numb and she needs to snap of it. Kat is also hoping that the change of scene will bring her friend back to her.

Hoole's novel is not simply about two friends driving and camping. It is about dealing with loss, regaining a friendship that has suffered, and exploring feelings that have been hidden under the surface. This is a great summer read.

Hoole, Elissa. (2012). Kiss the Morning Star. New York: Marshall Cavendish Publishing.

Going Bovine

Going Bovine by Libba Bray is a road trip novel with a twist.

Cameron Smith is a teen who is sliding through high school trying not to be noticed. He is totally unpopular and has only a few friends - opposed to his twin sister who hangs with the most popular kids.

But soon, Cameron will be a bit more interesting. At first he is not sure what is going on - he is having hallucinations and his muscles are not always doing what he tells them to. Once his parents notice that there is something wrong and he is not just being a teen, they take him to the doctor.

Cameron is diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob, or Mad Cow, disease. Knowing he has only a short time to live, he takes the advice of a angel (who may be a figment of his imagination) and goes on a quest to find the one man who may be able to cure him.

On his journey, accompanied by a classmate, he will encounter a cult, a famous jazz musician, quantum physicists, spring break in Florida, and a Viking god trapped in the body of a yard gnome.

Libba Bray is obviously mad herself, and her personality comes through in this novel which is the story of a young man learning how to really live for the first time in his life. It is both laugh-out-loud funny and surprisingly heart wrenching.

Bray, Libba. (2009). Going Bovine. New York: Delacorte Press.

How to be Bad

E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle have joined forces to write a great YA book - How to be Bad. Each author speaks for one of the three friends in the book - alternating by chapter - creating one story from three points of view.

Jesse and Vicks have been friends since they started working together at the restaurant they have nicknamed Awful Waffle. Lately other forces in their lives have put a strain on their friendship. When Jesse suggests a road trip to Miami to see Vicks boyfriends, Mel invites herself. Mel is new to Awful Waffle and Niceville, Florida. Jesse agrees to let her go because she offers to pay for most of the trip.

Once on the road, the plan is to stop at the exciting tourist attractions from Vicks' favorite book: Fanstastical Florida. Though their trip does not go according to the plan, the three friends have a great adventure and learn that no matter what else happens, they have each other.

Lockhart, Emily, Sarah Mlynowski & Lauren Myracle. (2008). How to be Bad. New York: Harper Teen.