Destination Anywhere

December 18, 2020

Gr 9 Up-Making friends has never been easy for white 17-year-old Peyton. After years of being bullied, she's more than happy to reinvent herself in college. She latches on to a group of peers, desperate to become one of them. After a disastrous night, Peyton realizes that her life is spinning out of control and decides to escape. She drops out of school, packs a backpack, and boards a plane from the U.K. to Canada without much of a plan. Peyton wants to figure out who she is-by herself. She meets a group of people in a hostel, but she's so beat down by previous drama that she doesn't trust her gut to travel with them at first. Alternating between the past and the present, Barnard weaves Peyton's story together. In the time line from the past, Peyton's story unravels-her desperation to have friends, her experiments with drugs, her meaningless sexual relationship with her boyfriend, and her sense of worthlessness. In the present-day time line, Peyton learns to trust herself and others, and slowly find her purpose. She finds friends from different backgrounds, ages, and sexual orientations, who encourage her to examine her past and discover herself, including her goal of becoming an illustrator. With strong characters against the vivid landscape of Canada, Peyton's physical and emotional journeys will be relatable to teens. VERDICT A good coming-of-age story. Recommended for YA collections.-Jennifer Rummel, Cragin Lib., Colchester, CT

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2021
After a traumatic incident, an aspiring artist flees from England to Canada. Peyton King is on a plane to Vancouver without a plan. The 17-year-old Brit has had a year that started out promisingly enough--a new school offers a fresh start after 5 years of bullying and brings, for the first time in her life, a group of friends and a boyfriend--then slowly but surely ended in chaos. Leaving only a short note for her parents, Peyton flees halfway across the world and shortly thereafter connects with a motley crew of 20-something travelers from various parts of Europe. As the group takes a road trip through Canada in an RV they dub Justin, Peyton documents the journey in her beloved sketchbook--and contemplates kissing her adorable fellow explorer Beasey. She also slowly regains the trust in other people that she'd lost. The story alternates chapters between Peyton's past and present, slowly leading up to the tragic event that prompted her flight. Barnard has crafted a page-turner that's both adventurous and reflective, and Peyton is a thoughtful, nuanced heroine who eventually understands her past roles as both victim and enabler. Excepting Scottish traveling companion Khalil, whose name cues him as a person of color, main characters are presumed White. There is some diversity in sexual orientation. Illustrations not seen. A lovely coming-of-age tale set amid breathtaking scenery. (Fiction. 13-18)

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