Road Trip

Gr 5–8—Fourteen-year-old Ben, his father, and their dog, Atticus, take an impromptu road trip to rescue a border collie puppy. Although Ben's father's admission that he has impulsively quit his job casts a pall over the journey, other problems emerge as they accumulate passengers and realize that they're being followed. Ben's slang-filled voice has a conversational tone, and many kids will relate to his frustration with his father. The short chapters, present-tense storytelling, and action-filled plot result in a quick read, but the characters are underdeveloped and clichéd: Ben's father is a charismatic but flighty dreamer; Ben's friend, Theo, is a juvenile delinquent with a heart of gold. Brief chapters in which the family dog gives readers his own observations (for example, that he's seen an unsavory character before) will appeal to animal lovers, but these interludes make for clunky foreshadowing. The story also stretches credulity to its limits: Ben's father not only talks a policeman out of giving him a speeding ticket, but also persuades him to drag race down the highway, and all of the characters are able to sort out their various issues in the space of a single day. Though reluctant readers may enjoy this light read, it's unlikely to make a deep or lasting impression on them.—Mahnaz Dar, School Library Journal