The Miles Between

September 7, 2009
Four teens escape boarding school for a day when 17-year-old Destiny Faraday happens upon a pink convertible with the key in the ignition (conveniently, the glove box also contains a bundle of cash). These truants aren't out for a joyride: their quest is for a “fair day” in which everybody gets something they dearly deserve. Rather improbably, this is what happens. The coincidences involved in making this so push Pearson's (The Adoration of Jenna Fox
) story in genre-bending ways. Is this a fantasy? A meditation on chance and coincidence? (“Can there be such a thing as a pattern to coincidence?” muses Destiny.) What keeps the pages turning while one's disbelief is in constant suspension is the mystery element—there's a dark secret lurking in Destiny's backstory that dribbles out as the day goes on. The big reveal is well orchestrated, but the way the story wraps up treats casually what readers will have learned is serious mental illness. Those willing to let that go will be carried along by the story's supernatural momentum and its affirming message about the redemptive power of friendship. Ages 14–up.