Review: Along for the Ride

Title: Along for the Ride
Author: Sarah Dessen
Publisher: Viking
Date published: 2009
Type of book: Young Adult (Love, Divorce, Mixed Families, Relationships, Childhood, Death)
Pages: 383
I received this book from/at: Wal*Mart
My interest in this book is: fav author

Ideas expressed/message/plot: From inside cover: “Riding a bike is only one of the many things Auden’s missed out on. Even before her parents’ divorce, she was cast in the role of little adult, never making waves, focusing on academics to please her demanding mother.
Now she’s spending the summer before college in the tiny beach town of Colby with her father and his new wife and baby. A job in a trendy boutique introduces her to the world of girls, their friendships, conversations, romances. And then there’s Eli, an intriguing longer. A former star on the bike circuit and a fellow insomniac, Eli introduces Auden to the nocturnal world of Colby. Together they embark on a quest: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to put a tragic episode behind him. Combine two lonely people with a charming beach town and an endless supply of long summer nights, and just about anything can happen.”

Favorite characters, quotes/lines: Auden: I really related to her in many ways – like her no-nonsense attitude and the fact that she got things done, without anyone’s help. I can definitely relate to that in ways. But in other ways I am like the girls that she was slowly learning about. Eli: I felt like he wasn’t in the book as much as some of Dessen’s past love interests, but I loved when he was in passages.

When I finished this book I felt: I felt like this book was more mature than some of Dessen’s past books. It may have been that the main characters were older, or maybe it was simply the content. Either way, I liked that about Along for the Ride.

Other books to read by this author: The Truth About Forever, This Lullaby, Just Listen, Lock and Key, Dreamland, Keeping the Moon, That Summer, Someone Like You

I would recommend this book to: fans of Sarah Dessen and Young Adult literature with a romantic plot line