Whats New Category: Travel

Road Trip!

Posted July 31, 2017 by Donna, Readers' Advisor

Whether you’re taking a road trip this summer or just wishing you were, find inspiration from these novels, and check out our display next to the Teen Space on the second floor…

Perfect Escape
by Jennifer Brown

Kendra thinks a road trip with her brother might be the perfect cure for his OCD and her disastrous mistake at school. At the very least she intends to reunite with their best friend Zoe, if she can find her. But will the journey free them, or make everything worse?

Paper Towns
by Susan Lucci

In the humid heat of Florida, 17 year old Quentin Jacobsen takes a roadtrip with his next door neighbor, Margo, who is also the girl he has an enormous crush on. But when she runs away it’s up to Quentin to follow the clues, revealing a reality that is much different than the fantasy he’s created in his mind.

Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour
by Kathy Griffin

The last thing Amy wants to do after the death of her father in a car accident is drive her mother’s car across the country to help her move. And worse than that is the fact that her driving companion is a old family friend named Roger, who she definitely does not want to spend the next several days with. But after reconnecting with Roger, Amy finds she just might enjoy this road trip more than she was expecting – a lot more!

Open Road Summer
by Ross Mathews

Reagan decides the best way to heal her broken heart is to go on the road with her best friend, country rock superstar, Lilah. Lilah’s moving on from a bad relationship too, and both girls decide to keep the summer boy free and drama free. There may be a slight glitch in the plans however, when Reagan finds herself falling for the sweet and cute singer from the opening act.

Road Trip
by Jim and Gary Paulsen

Ben’s dad hopes their family road trip to pick up a rescue dog will bring them closer, because it seems they’ve grown apart from each other. But Ben doesn’t want to take a boring car ride with his dad, so he invites his mischievous and troublesome buddy to come with and spice things up. But none of them know what’s really in store on the open road, as they encounter a series of misadventures, additional passengers they weren’t planning on and the possibility that they are being pursued along they way. As an added bonus, every other chapter is told from the perspective of the family dog, Atticus.

Teen Road Trip Novels!

Posted August 10, 2015 by LARRY

by Jim and Gary Paulsen

YA PAULSEN, J.

A father and son embark on a road trip to a distant animal shelter to save a homeless border collie puppy.

This One Time With Julia by David Lampson

YA LAMPSON, D.

Joe’s twin brother has disappeared, and his brother’s girlfriend, Julia, takes eighteen-year-old Joe on a road trip that changes his life.

Kissing in America by Margo Rabb

YA RABB, M.

When she falls for a boy who moves to California without any warning, sixteen-year-old Eva and her best friend, Annie, set off on a road trip to the West Coast to see him again, confronting the complex truth about love along the way.

#16thingsithoughtweretrue by Janet Gurtler

YA GURTLER, J.

When Morgan’s mom gets sick, she takes a road trip with her friends to find her real dad.

Damaged by Amy Reed

YA REED, A.

Numb after the death of her best friend, Camille, Kinsey starts to shut down but Hunter, Camille’s mysterious boyfriend, has other ideas and whisks Kinsey off on a multi-state road trip to forget the ghosts of their pasts and their own fears.

Man Made Boy by Jon Skovron

YA SF SKOVRON, J.

Tired of being sheltered from humans, seventeen-year-old Boy, son of Frankenstein’s monster and the Bride of Frankenstein, runs away from home and embarks on a wild road trip that takes him across the country and deep into the heart of America.

Honey, Baby, Sweetheart by Deb Caletti

YA CALETTI, D.

In the summer of her junior year, sixteen-year-old Ruby McQueen and her mother, both nursing broken hearts, set out on a journey to reunite an elderly woman with her long-lost love and in the process learn many things about “the real ties that bind” people to one another.

Hit the Road by Caroline B. Cooney

YA COONEY, C.

Sixteen-year-old Brittany acts as chauffeur for her grandmother and three other eighty-plus-year-old women going to what is supposedly their college reunion, on a long drive that involves lies, theft, and kidnappings.

Car Trouble by Jeanne DuPrau

YA DUPRAU, J.

Early one August morning, seventeen-year-old computer “nerd” Duff Pringle leaves Richmond, Virginia, in a newly-acquired used car and begins an unexpectedly convoluted journey to San Jose, California, and the job that awaits him there.

In Search of Mockingbird by Loretta Ellsworth

YA ELLSWORTH, L.

On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, Erin receives her long-dead mother’s diary, which reveals that she too revered Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” and wanted to be a writer, and Erin impulsively decides to take the Greyhound bus from St. Paul, Minnesota to Monroeville, Alabama, to visit the reclusive author.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

YA GREEN, J.

Having been recently dumped for the nineteenth time by a girl named Katherine, recent high school graduate and former child prodigy Colin sets off on a road trip with his best friend to try to find some new direction in life while also trying to create a mathematical formula to explain his relationships.

Becoming Chloe by Catherine Ryan Hyde

YA HYDE, C.

A gay teenage boy and a fragile teenage girl meet while living on the streets of New York City and eventually decide to take a road trip across America to discover whether or not the world is a beautiful place.

How to be Bad by E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle

YA LOCKHART, E.

Told in alternating voices, Jesse, Vicks, and Mel, hoping to leave all their worries and woes behind, escape their small town by taking a road trip to Miami.

ZigZag by Ellen Wittlinger

YA WITTLINGER, E.

A high-school junior makes a trip with her aunt and two cousins, discovering places she did not know existed and strengths she did not know she had.

Looking for Love? Find it in teen novels!

Posted April 15, 2015 by MPPL

This time of year seems to make everyone feel good about falling in love! Whether you are already in love or are looking for love, checkout some of these teens titles for a feel good read!

ForeverSummer Forever Summer by Alyson Noël

YA NOEL, A.

Far away from the everyday. Closer to making dreams come true…What does summer mean to you? For the two teenage girls in these two unforgettable novels, summer means being torn away from the familiar and finding new friends.

Empress of the World by Sara Ryan

YA RYAN, S.

While attending a summer institute, fifteen-year-old Nic meets another girl named Battle, falls in love with her, and finds the relationship to be difficult and confusing.

Swoon at Your Own Risk by Sydney Salter

YA SALTER, S.

After she swears off boys, Polly Martin looks forward to getting aid from her advice columnist grandmother, only to discover that her grandmother is man-crazy and cannot help Polly deal with her unwanted feelings for a cute boy.

Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler

YA SCHINDLER, H.

Chelsea Keyes, a high school basketball star whose promising career has been cut short by a terrible accident on the court, and Clint Morgan, a nineteen-year-old ex-hockey player who gave up his sport following a game-related tragedy, meet at a Minnesota lake resort and find themselves drawn together by the losses they have suffered.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

YA PERKINS, S.

When Anna’s father sends her to an American boarding school in Paris for her senior year of high school, she reluctantly goes, and meets a boy who becomes her best friend, in spite of the fact that they both want something more.

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

YA ELKELES, S.

When wealthy, seemingly perfect Brittany and Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, develop a relationship after Alex discovers that Brittany is not exactly who she seems to be, they must face the disapproval of their schoolmates–and others.

Jason & Kyra by Dana Davidson

YA DAVIDSON, D.

Handsome and popular Jason tries to come to terms with his irascible, often absent father and his growing attraction to the quiet, studious Kyra.

Prom & Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg

YA EULBERG, E.

For Lizzie Bennett, a music scholarship student at Connecticut’s exclusive, girls-only Longbourn Academy, the furor over prom is senseless, but even more puzzling is her attraction to the pompous Will Darcy, best friend of her roommate’s boyfriend.

Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

YA BARATZ-LOGSTED, L.

In this contemporary retelling of “Beauty and the Beast,” a teenaged boy whose hands were amputated in an explosion and a gorgeous girl whose mother has recently died form an instant connection when they meet on their first day as new students.

Kissed by an Angel by Elizabeth Chandler

YA CHANDLER, E.

When her boyfriend, Tristan, died, Ivy thought she’d lost everything, even her faith in angels. But now she’s discovered that he’s her guardian angel–his presence so strong that she can feel the touch of his hand, the beat of his heart. Ivy needs Tristan now more than ever because he knows she’s in terrible danger. Only Ivy’s guardian angel can save her, now that his killer is after her. But if Tristan rescues Ivy, his mission on earth will be finished, and he must leave her behind forever. Will saving Ivy mean losing her just when he’s finally reached her again?

This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

YA DESSEN, S.

Raised by a mother who’s had five husbands, eighteen-year-old Remy believes in short-term, no-commitment relationships until she meets Dexter, a rock band musician.

The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman

YA HAUTMAN, P.

June is starting at her sixth school in four years when she meets Wes, who has just broken up with a girlfriend, and although they do not share an instant or intense connection, attraction turns to love and they wonder where it will lead.

The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle

YA MYRACLE, L.

As high school graduation nears, Wren Gray is surprised to connect with gentle Charlie Parker, a boy with a troubled past who has loved her for years, while she considers displeasing her parents for the first time and changing the plans for her future.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

YA HAN, J.

Lara Jean writes love letters to all the boys she has loved and then hides them in a hatbox until one day those letters are accidentally sent.

Through to You by Lauren Barnholdt

YA BARNHOLDT, L.

When bad-boy Penn reaches out to cautious Harper, a tumultuous relationship blossoms, and the two learn that their bond may not be strong enough to overcome their obvious differences.

Love, Lucy by April Linder

YA LINDER, A.

After accepting a trip to Europe as a bribe from her parents to attend the college of their choice as a business major, seventeen-year-old Lucy discovers she’s unwilling to give up her dream of being an actress–or Jesse, the boy she met in Italy.

The Promise of Amazing by Robin Constantine

YA CONSTANTINE, R.

When the passive strategy she has always adopted proves injurious to her heart’s goals, ordinary girl Wren inadvertently saves the life of expelled lacrosse player Grayson and embarks on an awkward romance that compels both to start over.

Famous in Love by Rebecca Serle

YA SERLE, R.

When seventeen-year-old Paige is discovered in Portland, Oregon, and brought to Hollywood to star in a major motion picture, she finds all of the fame and adulation she had dreamed of but also gets caught in a romantic whirlwind, both on and off screen.

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

YA SF KAUFMAN, A.

Two star-crossed lovers must fight for survival when they crash land on a seemingly uninhabited planet.

This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

YA SMITH, J.

Perfect strangers Graham Larkin and Ellie O’Neill meet online when Graham accidentally sends Ellie an e-mail about his pet pig, Wilbur. The two 17-year-olds strike up an e-mail relationship from opposite sides of the country and don’t even know each others first names. What’s more, Ellie doesn’t know Graham is a famous actor, and Graham doesn’t know about the big secret in Ellie’s family tree. When the relationship goes from online to in-person, they find out whether their relationship can be the real thing.

Summer Reads for Teens!

Posted June 18, 2014 by MPPL

Summer is officially here! I don’t know about you , but I always enjoy picking up a novel to read in the summer that is actually set in the summertime. Check out this list below, if you are like me, and are look for a good summer read set in the summertime:

Summer Romance

The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd

YA BURD, N.

The summer after graduating from an Iowa high school, eighteen-year-old Dade Hamilton watches his parents’ marriage disintegrate, ends his long-term, secret relationship, comes out of the closet, and savors first love.

Girlfriend Material by Melissa Kantor

YA KANTOR, M.

Kate has never had a boyfriend. But while crashing at her mother’s wealthy friends’ home at Cape Cod for the summer, Kate meets Adam. But when her breezy summer romance with Adam becomes more complicated, Kate asks herself if she is girlfriend material.

Forever Summer by Alyson Noël

YA NOEL, A.

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

YA OCKLER, S.

While on vacation in California, sixteen-year-old best friends Anna and Frankie conspire to find a boy for Anna’s first kiss, but Anna harbors a painful secret that threatens their lighthearted plan and their friendship.

A Field Guide for Heartbreakers by Kristen Tracy

YA TRACY, K.

When seventeen-year-old high school students Veronica and Dessy go to Prague to attend a summer writer’s program for college students, they experience romance, conflicts, and, ultimately, the strengthening of their friendship.

Summer Mystery

The Morgue and Me by John C. Ford

YA MY FORD, J.

Eighteen-year-old Christopher, who plans to be a spy, learns of a murder cover-up through his summer job as a morgue assistant and teams up with Tina, a gorgeous newspaper reporter, to investigate, despite great danger.

Acceleration by Graham McNamee

YA MY MCNAMEE, G.

Stuck working in the Lost and Found of the Toronto Transit Authority for the summer, seventeen-year-old Duncan finds the diary of a serial killer and sets out to stop him.

Black Rabbit Summer by Kevin Brooks

YA BROOKS, K.

When two of sixteen-year-old Pete’s childhood classmates disappear from a carnival the same night, he is a suspect, but his own investigation implicates other old friends he was with that evening–and a tough, knife-wielding enemy determined to keep him quiet.

Shift by Jennifer Bradbury

YA BRADBURY, J.

After graduating from high school, best friends Win and Chris take a cross-country bicycle trek from West Virginia to Washington state, during which they discover amazingly beautiful places, meet fascinating people…and have a nasty fight. Win abandons Chris in Montana with no explanation, so Chris finishes the trip solo and returns home to start college…and until an FBI agent shows up to question him about the details of their trip, Chris has no idea that Win never made it back. Outdoor types, armchair travelers, and mystery fans won’t be able to flip these pages fast enough

A Midsummer Night’s Scream by R.L. Stine

YA STINE, R.

Decades after the filming of a horror movie is halted in the wake of three actor deaths and rumors about a haunted set, Claire, the daughter of a failing studio head, helps with a production on the same site.

Summer Sports

Swim the Fly by Don Calame

YA CALAME, D.

Fifteen-year-old Matt and his two best friends Sean and Coop, the least athletic swimmers on the local swim team, find their much anticipated summer vacation bringing them nothing but trouble with unsucessful schemes to see a live naked girl and with Matt, eager to impress the swim team’s “hot” new girl, agreeing to swim the 100-yard butterfly.

Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

YA MURDOCK, C.

After spending her summer running the family farm and training the quarterback for her school’s rival football team, sixteen-year-old D.J. decides to go out for the sport herself, not anticipating the reactions of those around her.

Mexican Whiteboy by Matt de la Peña

YA PENA, M.

Sixteen-year-old Danny searches for his identity amidst the confusion of being half-Mexican and half-white while spending a summer with his cousin and new friends on the baseball fields and back alleys of San Diego County, California.

The Big Game of Everything by Chris Lynch

YA LYNCH, C.

Jock and his eccentric family spend the summer working at Grampus’s golf complex, where they end up learning the rules of “The Big Game of Everything.”

The League by Thatcher Heldring

YA HELDRING, T.

Fourteen-year-old Wyatt, hoping to impress a girl and ward off a bully, decides to join his older brother’s summer football league, “The League of Pain,” against the advice of his parents, who think golf is the right sport for him.

Road Trips

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

YA GREEN, J.

As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth by Lynn Rae Perkins

YA PERKINS, L.

A teenaged boy encounters one comedic calamity after another when his train strands him in the middle of nowhere, and everything comes down to luck…

Don’t Stop Now by Julie Halpern

YA HALPERN, J.

Recent high school graduates Lil and Josh leave Illinois for Oregon seeking Lil’s sort-of friend Penny, who faked her own kidnapping to escape problems at home and an abusive boyfriend, but Lil also wants to find out if she and Josh are meant to be more than friends.

Jerk, California by Jonathan Friesen

YA FRIESEN, J.

Plagued by Tourette’s syndrome and a stepfather who despises him, Sam meets an old man in his small Midwest town who sends him on a road trip designed to help him discover the truth about his life.

Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer

YA BAUER, J.

Jenna Boller, the star employee at Gladstone’s Shoe Store in Chicago, is a very tall sixteen-year-old who really stands out in a crowd, but when Madeline Gladstone hires Jenna to drive her cross country to save her business, she learns the rules of the road, as well as the rules of life.

Summer Drama

The View from the Top by Hillary Frank

YA FRANK, H.

Anabelle and her fellow high school graduates navigate their way through a disastrous summer of love and friendship in the small coastal town of Normal, Maine.

Project Sweet Life by Brent Hartinger

YA HARTINGER, B.

When their fathers insist that they get summer jobs, three fifteen-year-old friends in Tacoma, Washington, dedicate their summer vacation to fooling their parents into thinking that they are working, which proves to be even harder than having real jobs would have been.

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

YA JOHNSON, M.

When seventeen-year-old Ginny receives a packet of mysterious envelopes from her favorite aunt, she leaves New Jersey to criss-cross Europe on a sort of scavenger hunt that transforms her life.

Boys, Bears, and a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots by Abby McDonald

YA MCDONALD, A.

Seventeen-year-old Jenna, an ardent vegetarian and environmentalist, is thrilled to be spending the summer communing with nature in rural Canada, until she discovers that not all of the rugged residents there share her beliefs.

How to Build a House by Dana Reinhardt

YA REINHARDT, D.

When her father divorces her beloved stepmother and leaves her without her stepsister, Tess, Harper decides to join a volunteer organization to build houses for tornado victims, but struggling to figure out her role in the mix upon her arrival, Harper is befriended by Teddy who inspires her to love and trust once again.

Don’t Stop Now by Julie Halpern

Posted June 30, 2011 by LARRY

Don’t Stop Now by Julie Halpern

Just out of school for the summer, the last thing that Lillian expects is to have a cryptic message from her friend Penny waiting for her on her phone. “I did it,” is all that the message says. It turns out that Penny has faked her own kidnapping. The only thing Lillian can think to do is hop in the car with her best friend Josh (who she also has had a huge crush on forever) and try and track down Penny on a road trip across the country. Complete with random stops at places like the Mars Cheese Palace, the Mitchell Corn Palace, and the Enchanted World Doll museum, Lily hopes this road trip will finally determine once and for all if she and Josh can be more than just friends.

Halpern does a great job of presenting serious issues with a humorous twist; this novel is laugh out loud funny. One interesting aspect of Don’t Stop Now is that Penny has a very hard home life and is in an abusive relationship, issues that prompt her to stage her kidnapping. You get Penny’s point of view in alternating diary entries that balance the lighter road trip narration provided by Lillian. The road trip, some drama, and a maybe romance all combine to make this a great summer read!

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