American Road Trip

Starred review from July 16, 2018
The past few years have brought many hardships to Teodoro Avila, known as T, and his family. But during his junior year, T develops high hopes for the future. He is enjoying a budding romance, his grades are improving, and his brother, Manny, is finally coming home from deployment in Iraq. But when Manny returns suffering from PTSD, his violent outbursts and bouts of depression are messing up T’s plans to get himself and his family back on the right track. As tensions mount and the school year draws to a close, T’s older sister, Xochitl, decides it’s time for her and her brothers to hit the road. Unbeknownst to T and Manny, she has a plan—but if it doesn’t work, there could be devastating consequences. In a story about mending broken ties, making sacrifices, and visiting landscapes and loved ones from the past, Flores-Scott (Jumped In) invites readers to follow T on a road trip that brings to life the Avilas’ Latino heritage and Manny’s disorder. In addition to the book’s serious subject matter, it celebrates many things: family love, realized dreams, and the taste of a green chile cheeseburger. Ages 12–up.