Today #16thingsithoughtweretrue author Janet Gurtler stopped by Mary Had a Little Book Blog to share some memorable road trip moments for Sourcebook Fire's official #16thingsithoughtweretrue blog tour, which started February 3 and runs through the end of March.
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: young adult contemporary, realistic fiction, coming of age
Status: standalone
Summary: Heart attacks happen to other people #thingsIthoughtweretrue
When Morgan's mom gets sick, it's hard not to panic. Without her mother, she would have no one—until she finds out the dad who walked out on her as a baby isn't as far away as she thought...
Adam is a stuck-up, uptight jerk #thingsIthoughtweretrue
Now that they have a summer job together, Morgan's getting to know the real Adam, and he's actually pretty sweet...in a nerdy-hot kind of way. He even offers to go with her to find her dad. Road trip, anyone?
5000 Twitter followers are all the friends I need #thingsIthoughtweretrue
With Adam in the back seat, a hyper chatterbox named Amy behind the wheel, and plenty of Cheetos to fuel their trip, Morgan feels ready for anything. She's not expecting a flat tire, a missed ferry, a fake girlfriend...and that these two people she barely knew before the summer started will become the people she can't imagine living without.
When Morgan's mom gets sick, it's hard not to panic. Without her mother, she would have no one—until she finds out the dad who walked out on her as a baby isn't as far away as she thought...
Adam is a stuck-up, uptight jerk #thingsIthoughtweretrue
Now that they have a summer job together, Morgan's getting to know the real Adam, and he's actually pretty sweet...in a nerdy-hot kind of way. He even offers to go with her to find her dad. Road trip, anyone?
5000 Twitter followers are all the friends I need #thingsIthoughtweretrue
With Adam in the back seat, a hyper chatterbox named Amy behind the wheel, and plenty of Cheetos to fuel their trip, Morgan feels ready for anything. She's not expecting a flat tire, a missed ferry, a fake girlfriend...and that these two people she barely knew before the summer started will become the people she can't imagine living without.
What's Janet Gurtler's favorite road trip memory?
One of the only
“girls only” road trips I took was when I was 21. I lived in a Canadian
city, Winnipeg, and our closest border “town” was Grand Forks. Not very
big, not terribly glamorous, but it was the US of A baby. Something you
might not know about Canada, we have lower drinking ages than the
States. But when everyone turned 21, it was kind of coming of age thing
to pile people into the car, cross the border and shop and party in the
States.
Something
else I should mention. I was 21 a long time ago. I was on my own and I
was BROKE. Things were different. The US had way more interesting
restaurants and shops than Canada back then. Target was a big hairy deal
for us Canadians. Even tiny places like Grand Forks seemed kind of
fabulous. We have pretty much the same stores on both sides of the
border now. For the most part. But back then, it seemed so different
than us.
The
other thing the US had. Cheap booze. Cheap cigarettes. And this was in
the day when people smoked everywhere. Gross. In shopping malls, in the
office, in restaurants and the bars. And yes. Back then, I was a
smoker. So it was a big thrill to head across the border and pick up
cartons of “cheap smokes.” Did I mention, gross?
I
shudder to remember. Anyhow. There we were. 21 year olds. It was the
late 80’s. We had neon clothes. Big hair. Achy Breaky Heart was our
theme song. Four of us. Windows open, feet outside. Music blasting.
Blowing smoke rings. Eating sunflower seeds and diet coke.
We
thought we were hot stuff. And we did the kind of crazy things, only
the young can get away with. We crashed a couple of Frat House parties.
We drank too much, flirted too much, stayed out too late and ate greasy
hang over food for breakfast. Decadence personified.
The good old days.
------
I'm not going to lie; Janet's road trips sound absurdly similar to many of the trips I used to take when I was in my college marching band. Minus the big hair and "Achy Breaky Heart," of course, but neon had started coming back, and as band kids, you know we were good with loud music. No matter when, there are certain scenes in life that everyone experiences in a very similar way. 50 years from now, young adults will still be drinking too much, flirting too much, staying up too late, and eating too much greasy food, and I think that's awesome (well, except for the drinking too much, which I think is just as gross as Janet declares her former smoking habit!). Thank you so much for sharing your story today, Janet! I can't wait to read #16thingsithoughtweretrue and witness Morgan, Amy, and Adam's road trip hijinks for myself! Do you have any crazy road trip stories? Share yours in the comments!
Book Links
About the Author:
Praise for Janet Gurtler:
“This character driven teen drama is a terrific tale...” —Midwest Book Review (for IF I TELL)“Readers . . . will be immersed in her unique and disconcerting situation and will be absorbed in her struggle for personal redemption, self-acceptance, and hope.” —School Library Journal (for WHO I KISSED)
“...powerful... A gripping read, Gurtler allows real life to prevail, avoiding the all-too-easy, “after-school special” ending many writers might have chosen. Major characters are well-developed, and even adults are portrayed in a realistic, although not always positive, light.” —VOYA (for I’M NOT HER)
Author Links:
I think this book sounds really good, it's been on my list for a while, long before it released, so now I just need to buy a copy so I can read it! It sounds like a really fun adventure!
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to go on a road trip. I think me and my friend are going to go on one this summer and I'm so excited. I loved #16 Things! I'm not going to lie, I cried.
ReplyDelete