The Best Reader: Thou Shalt Not Road Trip

Review:

Luke Dorsey is sort of an overnight success. He is very young but is already super famous among book lovers. He has difficulty dealing with this success and is mostly amazed at the way people treat him. Due to his popularity, he is sent on a book tour to promote his story.

Matt, Luke's brother, is supposed to act as his transportation from one signing to another. It's easy to see from the beginning that these brothers are not similar. Matt is a bit irresponsible and not at all prepared for a trip. He is more than willing to use funds from the publisher to take care of whatever is needed for the trip and even with that, they have several missteps along the way.

Soon, they are not only dealing wtih the stresses of travel, but bringing Matt's girlfriend and her sister (who just happens to be Luke's ex-girlfriend) Fran. This creates a bit of drama, but at the same time they learn a lot about themselves and each other.

Luke was a funny character. His writings were hilarious as well. There was just something about him that I liked immediately. He seemed like a typical, awkward young boy. He was funny without meaning to be sometimes just because of how he reacted to his brothers antics. It was a nice touch for this book.

I don't typically read a lot of books with religious topics. Not because I don't like them, but mainly because they can get preachy or, boring.to be honest. This book wasn't at all boring. Antony John's writing really kept the story flowing nicely. But, this book does have a lot of religious talk and internal dialogue. This may be something that most people enjoy, but it brought the book down a bit for me.

Recommended: Road trip fans looking for something funny with a religious meaning.

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Make sure to check out my character interview with Alex, and enter to win a signed copy of Thou Shalt Not Road Trip! Ends 4/28.

Today kicks off The Teen Book Scene book tour for Thou Shalt Not Road Trip by Antony John. One of the characters, Alex, is here today to share her wisdom about road trips.

Antony John has been kind enough to offer up a SIGNED ARC of Thou Shalt Not Road Trip so be sure to sign up below!

Questions to Alex
1. What advice would you give to someone who was planning a road trip with their boyfriend/girlfriend and members of their family?
Do bring deodorant, beverages, energy bars, and a sense of humor.
Do not bring too much baggage—I’m not talking about suitcases, either. Emotional issues, it turns out, get magnified by close (read: claustrophobic) living conditions. And it’s hard to get away from everyone when you’re stuck in a car all day.
And if someone has forgotten deodorant, well.. things get ugly really fast.
2. What's the coolest"fun-fact" you learned while traveling?
That the mid-point of Route 66 is in Adrian, Texas, and there’s even an excellent café there (imaginatively named the MidPoint Café) to mark it. Order the ugly crust pie for dessert. You won’t be disappointed.
3. What would you say is the biggest difference between you and Fran?
I’ve always been able to shut out distractions. If people suck—hi Mom and Dad!—I ignore them. If something is holding me back, I cut it loose and move on. If I want something very much, I can focus like a laser beam. Unfortunately, sometimes the distractions actually matter, and I guess I’ve made a habit of overlooking them too (sorry, Fran). 4. Tell us one thing about you that people may not get from reading the book?
I care. Deeply. About almost everything. Even my pet betta fish, which my lab mates are kindly babysitting for the entire summer. When I get back in a few weeks, I’m going to bake them an organic carrot cake as a thank you. (I’m assuming the betta fish will still be alive.)
5. Who really surprised you the most on the trip?
That’d be Fran. When you grow up with someone, you figure you know her. We’ve had our share of terrific moments, and fights, and resolutions, and through it all I’ve come to know who she is. Or rather, I thought I knew who she is. But actually, Fran feels things in a way I don’t. She feels the weight of things, the importance of the truthfulness of things, the need for the world to make sense. I almost wish for her sake that she didn’t, as it made this trip pretty hard for her, to be honest. But I admire her for it, all the same.
Which is more than I can say for some people..

Thanks so much for having me along today, Jessica, and a hi to your readers!

Thou Shalt Not Road Trip by Antony John
Publisher: Dial Books (April 12th, 2012)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 336 pages
Sixteen-year-old Luke Dorsey is sent on a cross-country tour to promote his bestselling spiritual self-help guide accompanied by his agnostic older brother and former girlfriend, Fran, from whom he learns some things about salvation.