So I finished Sarah Dessen's new book, "Along for the Ride." And guess what? It SUCKS! All of her books are pretty much about the same thing, a girl struggling to overcome her fears, with variations of course, and she always managed to make each one new and unique. But this one...well, it was a flop. There were parts where it got exciting and interesting, and I was holding my breath, hoping she would pull it off....but she didn't. She evened out those "good" parts with horrible parts that were exasperating and made me want to scream at her. The book was about how a girl, Auden, had always been very grown-up and had not done some normal kid things, like learning how to ride a bike and having food fights. Her parents pushed her to be good at school. Her parents got divorced years ago, and now her dad is remarried to a younger woman and they have a new baby. She decides to spend the summer with them at their house in Cape Cod. (This also is the setting for one of her other books, "Keeping the Moon." If you read her books carefully, you can see how she incorporates places and people in her other books into the book so in a way, they all tie together.) There, she meets Eli, a boy who also can't sleep at night, like her. They hang out at night and become friends...you get the idea. It's about her dealing with her parents divorce and realizing who she is. And Sarah Dessen does accomplish this...only in the most BORING way possible! I give it 2 stars for effort and a bit of creativity, but I discourage my non-existent followers from reading this book.

Quote of the Post: "Normal is not something to aspire to, it's something to get away from."