Along for the Ride

Sarah Dessen

Published 2009

383 Pages

Rating: A

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 loner. 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.

(taken from book flap)

I adore this book.

Sarah Dessen has done it again. She has captured everything I always want in a book. Family. Friends. Love. Vacations. And a great message/meaning to be learned and remembered.

Auden is from a broken family. Her parents split up when she was 16, she is now 18, but it still was hard for her to handle, especially since her brother was never there to comfort her and her parents seemed oblivious to her hurting. Her parents were both part of the academics, both book writers and both very hard working people. Auden grew up loving school and loving learning, and she would let anything get in the way of that. She grew up without a normal childhood and without many friends, her life revolved around doing better in school and pleasing her parents, even if they rarely showed they noticed her achievements. After her parents split up she lived with her mother and her father moved near the beach were he soon met Heidi, her now stepmom. Heidi is always emailing Auden to come visit them at the beach, so she can meet her new baby sister, Thisbe. And for once, Auden decides to go, she wants to spend time with her dad before she goes to college in the fall.

But when Auden gets to where her father lives, a little beach town called Colby, she is in for a real surprise. Her father is working on a new book and is so caught up in it, he cant find time for his own daughter. And Heidi is constantly dealing with Thisbe who constantly cries. Auden doesn’t know what might happen that summer and she isn’t expecting what happens to her.

She may finally be able to get her childhood back before adulthood and reality set in. With a little help from Colby residents and her new found quest, she is starting to become the girl she always knew she wanted to be but was too afraid to tell anyone.

This book is one of a kind, but so are all of Sarah Dessen’s other books. I love this book. I love all the characters and I absolutely love the setting. It made me want to go to the beach and just relax and have some fun, while meeting cute boys and trying new things. So definitely pick this book up if you need a great summer read, its fantastic!

-A.