Reviews

Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Chris's friend Win disappears after their postgraduation cross-country bike trip. Win's powerful father pressures Chris and his family for the truth as Chris pursues his own investigation. The narrative alternates between past and present, drawing readers into this friendship-powered travel mystery that introduces two young men claiming very different roads to independence. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.


Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

*Starred Review* Before they start college, Chris and his best friend, Win, bike 3,000 miles across country from their home in West Virginia to California. On the way, they get into a big fight, and Win disappears. Now an FBI agent is at Chris' college dorm asking questions, and Chris is being followed. Along with the mystery and the mounting suspense come flashbacks to the friends' cross-country adventure. Some metaphors and messages are too heavily spelled out (including a character wrestling with an angel), and, of course, Chris' search for his friend is a search for himself. But Bradbury's keen details about the bike trip, the places, the weather, the food, the camping, and the locals add wonderful texture to this exciting first novel, as Chris remembers the trip and returns to find what really happened. Best of all is the friendship story; many teens will recognize how even between close buddies, there's rivalry, anger, and heartbreak.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2008 Booklist


Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A smart and moving coming-of-age story about two best friends, Chris and Win, who bicycle across the country the summer after high-school graduation. Things are beginning to shift in their relationship. Chris has always cut Win a lot of slack, knowing that his friend's tyrannical father misses no opportunity to belittle his son. But, geez, would it kill Win to help out with expenses? After all, it's not like he doesn't have the money; in fact, he's got thousands of dollars in cash hidden at the bottom of his pannier. Bradbury perfectly captures the spirit of a cross-country bike trip, alternating Chris's recollection of the trip itself with the fallout he experiences upon starting school, having finished the trek solo after Win unaccountably ditched him in Montana. This device ratchets up the suspense on both ends, keeping readers guessing along with Chris: Just what happened to Win? What will talking to the FBI agent Win's father has sicced on him mean to Win, to Chris, to what might be left of their friendship? Fresh, absorbing, compelling. (Fiction. YA) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.


School Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Gr 8 Up-Best friends Chris and Win head out on a West Virginia to Washington State bicycle adventure after high school graduation, at the end of which Win disappears. Alternating chapters flash back to details of the trip, then forward to a private investigation instigated by Win's powerful father to uncover why his son told lies to Chris about an uncle in Seattle who doesn't exist, among other things. Little by little, Win's rich, domineering, and neglectful parents come more into focus, and it becomes evident that the teen needed to escape their iron rule. Win's father is sure Chris is keeping his son's whereabouts a secret. When Chris does figure out where his friend is hiding, everything comes together, as Win deflects his controlling father and sets out to make a life of his own. Chris is a well-drawn character, and readers will care about him. Win is naturally a puzzle-angry, and fighting to become himself. The story moves quickly and will easily draw in readers. Though appearing to be a mystery, it is actually a cross-country personal quest, built on vignettes of realistic encounters along the way, like Ellen Wittlinger's Zigzag (S & S, 2003).-Diane P. Tuccillo, Fort Collins Regional Library District, CO (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.


Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

For best friends Chris and Win, nothing could be more gratifying than a two-month-long cross-country bike trip following high school graduation. But when Win suddenly disappears somewhere in Montana, and Chris, the narrator, returns home alone to Virginia with only a hunch where his friend might be, Chris's once-firm grasp on reality slowly begins to weaken--especially when Win's overprotective, blowhard father launches an FBI investigation to track down his son. This debut novel transcends the run-of-the-mill alienated-teens-on-a-road-trip plot. While the boys meet interesting people and discover fascinating and gorgeously lonesome parts of the country, they also evolve in ways neither thought possible. Endowing both boys with a heavy dose of idealism, responsibility and self-preservation, Bradbury makes their growth feel genuine and even profound. Chris and readers are equally in the dark about Win's disappearance, making the mystery that much more exciting. Ages 12-up. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Back