Along For The Ride

Sarah (Sara?) Dessen is extremely adept at writing about the trials and tribulations of teenage life. In her latest novel, Along For the Ride, Auden is an insomniac braniac with two college professors/authors for parents. Divorced parents that is. Her father lives with his new, pregnant wife (Heidi) in a small seaside town miles away. She's been living with her intimidatingly smart mother, who's been filling her head with negative comments about her dad and how he's "shacked up with some coed." While Auden is busy graduating, shunning social advances, and being the "little adult," her brother Hollis is traversing throughout Europe, filling the role of "big kid." Auden decides to visit her father the summer after senior year, thinking it'll be good to bond with him before college. Unfortunately, she's faced with a newborn scream machine, a frazzled step-mom and an absent father. Before she knows it, she's facing cocky guys, emotional girls and a mysterious loner. Having been considered an adult most of her life, Auden never got to experience the things a normal childhood would consist of: cul-de-sac kickball games, bowling and riding a bike are just a few things she's missed out on. She even missed Prom, getting stood up when her date opted for a scientific conference instead. When she meets Eli, a fellow insomniac with a tragic past and a knack for bike riding, she learns that it's never too late to learn to be a kid.