Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Genre: YA Fiction
Copyright: 2009
Pages: 383
Book Source: Library borrow

It’s been so long since Auden slept at night. Ever since her parents’ divorce—or since the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live.

A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the death of a friend.

This was my first Sarah Dessen novel and it certainly won't be my last. Along For The Ride was such an enjoyable story, easy to read, character driven, with a lot more to it than just "boy meets girl." It's about growing up and finding yourself,  it's about seeing things how they really are, not how you'd like them to be, it's about making mistakes and facing life head on, it's sad and funny and romantic and entirely relatable.

Auden chooses to spend her summer before starting college with her father & stepmother Heidi and her new baby sister Thisbe, and her anticipated carefree summer quickly becomes far more than she imagined. Dessen writes relationships really well, they ring true and  while I disliked Auden's parents, I enjoyed seeing the change in dynamics as Auden takes off the rose coloured glasses of youth. I liked Heidi, actually I liked her a lot and I felt a huge amount of empathy for this sleep deprived, exhausted and emotionally distraught new mother & it was nice to see Auden's relationship with her stepmother grow and change. And lets not forget the secondary characters, Ms Dessen certainly doesn't. I loved Auden's new friends, Maggie and Adam and I adored Auden's brother Hollis's words of wisdom.

"You're always a kid around your parents," he repled. "Unless they're acting like children. Then you don't get the chance. You know what I'm saying?"

Auden isn't the type of character I'm usually captivated by. She's a perfectionist, academically driven, reserved, emotionally repressed and socially awkward but I liked her and I found myself invested in her quest to experience the normal everyday things she missed out on as a child; making friends, gossiping with girlfriends, paper deliveries, playing hooky, riding a bike, having a boyfriend, going to parties. When Auden meets Eli, their common bond of insomnia opens a door on a whole new world for Auden & the quest provides a unique setting for their friendship to flourish into something more.

Sarah Dessen says on her website, the inspiration for Along For The Ride came not long after her daughter was born and for me it's pretty clear that this story comes from a place of honesty and personal experience.

"There was a whole other world at night, one I’d been completely unaware of, and it made me start thinking about the people who chose to live in it, and how they found themselves there. That’s where Auden’s story began."

So to all the Sarah Dessen fans out there, which novel should I read next??

Visit Sarah Dessen's website and blog to find out more about this wonderful author.

 

To celebrate my 1st Blogoversary two lucky readers can take their pick from a choice of 6 books in this month's spookalicious competition. Check this blog post for details. International entrants welcome.