For Amy, summer break is not turning into the exciting adventure that most kids are looking forward to, particularly those living in sunny California. To start, her final month of her junior year meant living alone in her home since her dad died a few months earlier, her twin brother is in rehab in South Carolina, and her mother had to head out to Connecticut to get things settled with their new house. Now, Amy has to make her way across the country to join her mom on the other coast.

The problem is that her dad died in a car accident, and that has made her really gun-shy with driving. Thankfully, her mom has made arrangements for Roger, a childhood friend she has not seen in years, to do the driving. Roger is supposed to be joining his dad in Philadelphia for the summer so sharing the road trip together seems like a great idea ... except that Amy is not exactly looking forward to it.

While Amy's mom planned out the whole trip with a detailed itinerary and reservations at hotels at stops along the way, it does not take long for Amy and Roger to decide to make their own way. With stops at Yosemite and Graceland and journeys throughout America, the kids end up on a trip that not only helps them reach their destination and reform their former friendship, but they also get a chance to confront the demons they have been dealing with. For Amy, that means her broken family, and for Roger that means a chance to examine his recent breakup and his former-girlfriend Hadley.

As with most road trip tales, this novel is as much about the internal journey of the protagonists as it is about the physical journey as they head East. With that said, Matson has done a wonderful job of capturing the flavor of the locations Amy and Roger visit by including interesting characters with whom to interact and great little sub-plots to keep the book moving along. Each state gets some highlights with introductions to details like the state motto, playlists Amy and Roger used as they drove through, and photographs and receipts representing their adventures.

Readers, who are very much along for the ride, will find this a very difficult book to put down as the pacing moves smoothly, and the reader really connects closely with Amy and Roger. It is very hard not to care about them as you get closer and closer to them (much as they do to each other) during the journey.

Matson has created a wonderful read with her first novel, and it is one that seems destined to place her in the league of Sarah Dessen, Laurie Halse Anderson, and Ellen Wittlinger. If you are looking for great characters and a realistic and enjoyable mixture of laughs and tears, this is the perfect trip for you.