Saturday, November 2, 2013

Once Upon a Road Trip


 Once Upon a Road Trip
by Angela N. Blount
 Once Upon a Road Trip by Angela N. Blount is a contemporary story about a teenaged girl out to discover her country, and at the same time, discover herself. The main character, Angeli, just graduated from high-school and never wants to look back. She has decided to take the summer to go on a road trip and meet people that she has connected with over the internet. At the end of the trip she hopes to meet up with a young man that could be boyfriend material.

Of course this trip does not go as smoothly as planned. She finds herself in difficult situations, both physically and mentally. She must overcome these obstacles in order to move on with her trip and grow as a person. Along the way she meets two young men who show interest in developing a relationship with her. Will Angeli be able to open her heart to either one of them, or is her guard up too high? Will she complete her trip unharmed? What will she learn about herself?

My only issue with it is the random sense of religion that was somewhat-integrated, but not well. If the author wanted to integrate religion, I think it should have been done more uniformly. It would have been a great opportunity to learn more about other religions and other beliefs through the perspective of a teenager.

Other than that one minor detail, it was a great book. Many teenagers can relate to the feeling of exclusion or not belonging that Angeli shared throughout the book. Blount presents a nice book that is different than most YA books out there today.

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