Thou Shalt Not Road Trip

March 26, 2012
John (Five Flavors of Dumb) returns with the disappointing story of 16-year-old Luke, the bestselling author of Hallelujah, a book about his faith inspired by his love of (and heartache over) his longtime friend Fran, who has morphed from an overachieving churchgoer to a goth with purple hair and tattoos. The story opens as Luke is about to embark on a road trip–style book tour with his college-age brother, Matt, but Matt has a surprise: Fran and her sister Alex (Matt’s girlfriend) will be joining them. As the group drives from Los Angeles to St. Louis, Luke learns how he hurt Fran and discovers a deeper understanding of faith (and himself). John’s novel lacks tension, and the characters are difficult to make sense of; Luke comes across as incredibly naïve, blind both to Matt’s attempts to use the trip for his own purposes as well as external sabotage aimed at tarnishing Luke’s reputation. The premise is fun, yet difficult to take seriously, notably the lack of adult supervision on the tour, especially as events spiral out of Luke’s control. Ages 12–up. Agent: Ted Malawer, Upstart Crow Literary.

February 15, 2012
Luke Dorsey, the 16-year-old author of bestselling "spiritual chronicle" Hallelujah, goes on a calamitous road trip to promote his book. Luke's book tour takes him from Los Angeles to his hometown of St. Louis. Along for the ride are Luke's older brother Matt and, unexpectedly, Matt's girlfriend Alex and her younger sister Fran, Luke's former best friend. Tension between Luke and Matt and between Luke and Fran is apparent from the beginning, but the back story is filled in slowly enough that some of the significance of what happens between the characters will be lost on readers. On the road, the two sets of siblings experience breathtaking sights, automotive mishaps and dubious detours. As Luke learns the pitfalls of sudden celebrity, he is also forced to face the pain of having lost Fran's friendship when she started dyeing her hair and getting piercings and tattoos. Despite some engaging interpersonal drama, much of the premise here is hard to swallow: Why would a teenage author famous enough to make national news be sent on tour without parents or handlers? What is Luke's relationship to Christianity? How did Fran end up on this trip anyway? Readers who stick around for the back story will be rewarded; many, however, will lose faith. (Fiction. 12 & up)

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April 1, 2012

Gr 7 Up-Last summer Pastor Andy asked the teens in his youth group to write modern-day parables for the Sunday school kids. In a fit of inspiration, hunched near the a/c vent in his room to escape the Missouri summer heat, Luke Dorsey wrote and wrote. With a bit of help from Pastor Andy, as well as Pastor Mike and a raft of editors, he has, much to his surprise, ended up with a best-selling, spiritual self-help book called Hallelujah. This summer Luke is flying to Los Angeles to meet his capricious older brother, Matt, who is chauffeuring him cross-country on a promotional book tour. It turns out, however, that Matt has invited his girlfriend, Alex, along, as well as her younger sister, Fran. This is the same Fran who used to be Luke's best friend, debate team partner, and the love of his life, until she changed last year. She dyed her hair purple and scarred her ears with multiple piercings and her body with angry-looking tattoos. The journey becomes one of mishaps, late arrivals to signings, lost and regained faith, and forgiveness and acceptance. Luke and Fran reconcile, with Luke realizing that he has been judging her based on superficial trappings rather than valuing what's on the inside. Christian values are conveyed with humor, devoid of potentially preachy pitfalls. Although at times the characters lack depth and the situations they find themselves in are far from believable, readers will undoubtedly enjoy journeying with Luke as he promotes Hallelujah at various Christian establishments across the country.-Ragan O'Malley, Saint Ann's School, Brooklyn, NY

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2012
Grades 8-11 When a writing assignment for Luke's church retreat leads to a full-length book of parables and spiritual reflectionand instant famea book tour is the next step. Luke is escorted by older brother Matt, who also brings his girlfriend and her younger sister, Fran, a girl Luke dropped as his best friend after she morphed into a purple-haired, tattooed punk. A guidebook to Route 66 and the publicist's credit card turn the book tour into a classic road trip, complete with drama, love lost and found, raided hotel minibars (by Fran, not golden-boy Luke), and the kind of personal growth that is bound to happen on the open road when you're in over your head with six tabloid TV vans on your tail. With a nice balance of adventure and character development, John's novel features multifaceted teens whose faith is integrated with their thinking but doesn't define them completely. Luke's journey functions much like the parables in his sudden best-seller and will reward teens seeking an upbeat read with a unique premise, great settings, and just a little more.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)