Review: Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Along for the Ride

Overview –

Along for the Ride

Product Details

  • Pub. Date: April 2011
  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
  • Format: Paperback , 432pp
  • Sales Rank: 843
  • Age Range: Young Adult

Synopsis

Ever since her parents began fighting, Auden has been unable to sleep at night. Now, spending a summer at a charming beach town with her father and his new family, she has to find new places to pass the time she spends awake. And so she meets Eli, a fellow insomniac who becomes her nighttime guide. Together, they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she has missed; for Eli, to come to terms with the death of a friend. In her trademark blockbuster-style, Sarah Dessen creates a powerful and irresistible story of two people learning how to connect.

My Thoughts

This the first Sarah Dessen book I had read and I must say that I am thrilled to find an author this good.  I picked up this book this morning and could not put it down.  The story of a young woman, Auden, who has always been a little adult focused on her future and the new and life changing experiences she goes through when she visits her dad, step-mother and new baby stepsister in Colby.  I can totally relate to Auden and her lack of social experience.  I could understand her feelings and the choices she made because it is exactly what I would have done.  I love the town of Colby and the girls that Auden meets there.  They take her in even if she did make a huge mistake of making out with Jake the first night she is in town.  That very same night she see a boy doing tricks on the boardwalk but doesn’t know who he is.  Auden learns that his name is Eli and he is going through a difficult time since the summer before his best friend, Abe, died in a car accident where he was the driver.
This is a wonderful story of a girl chance to take control of her life and really live.  There is a perfect amount of detail in the story and many different story lines moving at the same time.  I enjoyed that the story was not just a romance but really that of finding friendship, family, yourself and love all at the same time.  It is a story of taking chances and growing.

My Rating 

4.5 stars a great simple fun loving read!  Check it out!
*  I purchased this book and all opinions are my own.