Hit the Road, Jack

Gr 3 Up—Jack Kerouac's spirit and the feel of America in the 1950s are evoked through a "wanderlusting" hare named Jack. Bebop rhythms and playful rhymes include lines like, "A farm, a twinkling light,/While the moon plays whoopsie-doopsie/With the blackness of the night." Jack travels from New York City through the Midwest, visiting cornfields, a carnival, then Mount Rushmore and a northern mountaintop. He celebrates the desert and San Francisco's sites: "There's just one rule/For guys like you, Jack:/Never, never stop." This journey can enhance a cross-country geography lesson, but some vernacular will need explanation, including "jukebox" and "shut-eye." Certain phrases demand mature readers: "money's only something, Jack,/That gets you in a rut." MacDonald's trademark golds wash the spot-on retro scenes of vintage cars, rolled-up blue jeans, Moms in aprons, and wide-open spaces. Boomers will enjoy this glimpse into mid-20th century America, but it has limited child appeal.—Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA