I'll Ask You Three Times, Are You OK?

September 24, 2007
Nye brings a keen curiosity and a poet's sensibility to this smooth, anecdotal collection that amplifies the notion that the journey itself is the destination. The most memorable characters are taxi drivers, such as the Syracuse, N.Y., cabbie whose conversation gives the book its title: driving her to the airport before dawn, he warns Nye that he will ask three times if she is okay, “Just to make sure you feel safe and secure. We're living in strange times, and I want you to feel very comfortable.” In other highlights of Nye's tour, she re-creates the voices of a rickshaw driver in India who tries to talk her into visiting a rug store instead of the Taj Mahal; the Glasgow driver who invites her to sit in front with him and bids her farewell with, “Okay then, be safe to the other side of the sea”; and an Egyptian driver in New York City who boasts of trafficking in counterfeit handbags. Nye muses on what she learns on specific travels and shares stories about driving other people (among them, possibly senile strangers, distinguished visiting writers and her own son). Aside from some name-dropping and some mildly self-indulgent moments, Nye's prose flows fluidly and evokes any number of different settings. She makes her case that “what happen in the margins, on the way to the destinations of any day, might be as intriguing as what happen when you {get] there.” All ages.

November 1, 2007
Gr 10 Up-Nye describes real-life experiences that she has had in her middle and high school years, and as she has traveled as an adult. Most tales center on brief encounters with strangers. These relationships vary from intimate connections, as in the ride with a fellow Bruce Springsteen fan to general dislike, as in the strained car ride with a rich elderly couple. But what they all have in common is a change in perspective as a result of the encounter. The pacing is quick and lively, and Nye's accessible voice is entertaining. Despite the brevity of the pieces, the people are well drawn and settings are well crafted; the descriptions and interactions conjure up a clear mental image of both personality and place. While most of these pieces seem tailored to appeal to adults, teens will identify with the immediate connections that can occur among strangers."Lynn Rashid, Marriots Ridge High School, Marriotsville, MD"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2007
Although Nye insists that these first-person narratives are fiction, they read like personal essays or newspaper columns abouther encounters (riding in a taxi, passing in a car)during her travels with her family and for her work as an author and publicspeaker. She writes about sudden intimate connections with strangers, especially taxi drivers, who often yield glimpses offamily and exile that can sometimes change us.Some pieces are more for adults than teens, especially those that detailNyes travails at conventions, but the prose is chatty, fast, and unpretentious, and teens will enjoy the driving stuff andthe idea of her kissing in the backseat, andtheyll feel her sense of control when she is behind the wheel herself. Unlike much of Nyes writing, thesepieces are not political, yet the most riveting conversation is witha Palestinian taxi driver in Manhattan, who speaks of those he left behind: They cant come, they cant go.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)