Road Trip

Starred review from November 26, 2012
A devoted raconteur of dog stories, Gary Paulsen (Notes from the Dog) along with his sculptor son, Jim, pull from a family tradition of adopting shelter dogs for their absorbing first collaboration. When Ben’s impulsive father recruits him to help rescue a border collie, the boy agrees—reluctantly. Ben is disgruntled because his father has just quit his job to start flipping houses, leaving no money to send the 14-year-old to hockey camp; to jab at his father, Ben invites along Theo, a tattooed 18-year-old friend who’s had brushes with the law. A gruff garage mechanic and a prescient waitress add color, as does family dog Atticus, who lends his amusing, perceptive voice in occasional interludes (“Getting a dog is a terrible idea,” he grumbles early on. “Dogs are messy and needy”). The authors score on all fronts: they set an entertainingly frenzied pace, provide twists aplenty, create true dialogue that blends humor and pathos, and bring together a close-knit ensemble. Ben’s testy yet loving relationship with his father is particularly well done, a testament to this father-son duo’s ability to work together. Ages 10–up.

November 15, 2012
In a first-time collaboration between father and son, the Paulsens supply alternating chapters of this attractively depicted road trip with a strongly upbeat yet never didactic message. Fourteen-year-old Ben is, reluctantly, on a journey with his dad and border collie, Atticus, to rescue a border collie puppy. Ben is barely speaking to his dad as his father drops one bombshell after another on him: He's quit his job and started flipping houses for a very uncertain living, and Ben probably won't be able to attend a promised summer hockey camp that he worked for all year. Along the way, they begin to collect lightly sketched but nonetheless vividly portrayed characters: Ben's friend Theo, who is facing some low-security jail time but is trying hard to get his life together; Gus, a pithy car mechanic who has a talent for judging people and engines correctly; and attractive Mia, a waitress and wannabe actress who has been fending for herself but barely getting by. To amp up the action, Theo is being pursued by a career criminal with evil intentions. Chapters are told in the believable, alternating first-person voices of Ben and Atticus. Dog lovers will especially enjoy the amusing glimpses into the wise dog's mind. Given its notable brevity and Ben's age-appropriate, oft-times snarky, attitude, this should be an easy sell for reluctant readers. (Fiction. 10-14)

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February 1, 2013

Gr 5-8-Fourteen-year-old Ben, his father, and their dog, Atticus, take an impromptu road trip to rescue a border collie puppy. Although Ben's father's admission that he has impulsively quit his job casts a pall over the journey, other problems emerge as they accumulate passengers and realize that they're being followed. Ben's slang-filled voice has a conversational tone, and many kids will relate to his frustration with his father. The short chapters, present-tense storytelling, and action-filled plot result in a quick read, but the characters are underdeveloped and cliched: Ben's father is a charismatic but flighty dreamer; Ben's friend, Theo, is a juvenile delinquent with a heart of gold. Brief chapters in which the family dog gives readers his own observations (for example, that he's seen an unsavory character before) will appeal to animal lovers, but these interludes make for clunky foreshadowing. The story also stretches credulity to its limits: Ben's father not only talks a policeman out of giving him a speeding ticket, but also persuades him to drag race down the highway, and all of the characters are able to sort out their various issues in the space of a single day. Though reluctant readers may enjoy this light read, it's unlikely to make a deep or lasting impression on them.-Mahnaz Dar, School Library Journal

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2012
Grades 3-7 The prolific Paulsen has teamed up with his son in this story about a life-changing journey for 14-year-old Ben and his family. When Ben's dad drags him along for a trip to adopt another rescued border collie, they bring Atticus, their beloved canine who already thinks he's a human member of the family. Atticus gives his own perspective on their progress at the end of each of Ben's first-person narrated chapters. They're also joined by a motley crew made up of a thuggish yet reform-minded teen, an aura-reading waitress, and a macho auto mechanic. En route, they transfer to a school bus, put out a car fire, drag race with cops, and evade some bad guys, all while documenting the adventure for Facebook. Ben's realistic introspection, actions, and reactions along the way show that he and his parents have gone down some rough roads before, but this trip promises to be a positive fresh start for everybody. With its quick pace, straightforward plot, and focus on dogs, this novel is sure to have reluctant-reader appeal.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)