Along for the Ride

Along for the Ride is a story about Auden, a girl who is in the midst of the seemingly predictable summer before her first semester of college. Auden has lived with her control-freak college professor mother her entire life, and in order to get away from her mother and the grad student she’s currently sleeping with, Auden decides to go visit her flaky father and his young wife, Heidi, and their newborn baby.

Arriving there, Auden realizes her father is as flaky as ever, her stepmother is a mess, and the baby is extremely colicky. She almost immediately she regrets her decision to visit after her carefree summer is taken away from her.

Auden attracts negative attention from several local girls after she unwittingly hooks up with one of their exes. Then she gets stuck with helping Heidi out with the baby and being a bookkeeper for her store. But as Auden gets to know the people in the small town around her, especially Eli who is alike Auden in so many ways but still a mystery to her, she grows into a person who is so unlike her mother and unlike her father that she can’t be described as anyone but herself.

I really enjoyed Along for the Ride. Like almost all of Sarah Dessen’s characters, Auden can easily be related to by even the average reader. She has her flaws and her good points, and nothing about her screams too perfect, or too much of a mess. She’s socially awkward, and it’s interesting to watch her grows as a person and become more at ease with everyone around her. Eli is cute, mysterious, and the perfect romantic interest for Auden and Sarah Dessen portrays their story wonderfully.

Along for the Ride is not my favourite Dessen book, but if you’re a Sarah Dessen fan, or even new to reading Sarah Dessen, it’s definitely a must read.

Review originally posted on my blog http://hobbitsies.net/2010/09/along-for-the-ride-by-sarah-dessen/

Reader reviewed by Nian

Auden is given an oppurtunity to get away from all the bad air when she gets to spend the summer with her dad and his new family. There, she is introduced to a new world filled with all the things she'd missed out while playing to her mother's demands. She also meets Eli, a boy who shows her a whole new world at night, and together, they start a new chapter of their lives.

Dessen's books never disappoint, and this was no different. Like many of her previous books, I love how much of a role friendship plays in these protagonist's life. In a typical YA book, you usually have some guya love interest, no doubthelp the protagonist find her way. But those YA books fail to include the importance of both friend and family support, too. But Dessen has the perfect balance of that. She'll conjure up a love interest with an equally touching background, a bunch of quirky but lovable friends for laughter and support, and the intricate webs of family drama that always followed. It's really hard not to fall head over heels in love with a Dessen bookthere's just so much stuff to grasp, to learn, and to relate to. Because it's not just a story, it's also life lessons packed into one novel. And you could tell this one was especially dear to Dessen herselfafter all, the featured baby, Thisbe, must have been the inspiration from the author's own baby.

Reader reviewed by Aud

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen is centered around a simple brainiac girl named Auden. Since she was little and her parents were fighting at all hours of the night she hasn't had a good night sleep. It is the summer before she goes to college and instead of being just a waitress for her some what unemotional mother she decides its time for a change. She packs up and goes to her fathers for the summer. She is welcomed by her step mother and new baby sister who seems to never stop crying.

Auden has never had the social interaction of a normal child. Her parents saw her as an adult so they treated her as one. She never got to go out and just be a kid. This is when Auden meets Eli. Eli who is guilt stricken by the death of his best friend also stays up most nights and they form a friendship fast. They embark and a Quest to help Auden do all the things that she never accomplished in her childhood so she can at least have the chance. For the first time ever Auden actually gets to experience what it is like to be young.

Sarah Dessen is a wonderful writer! If you haven't read her books.. you should go right now and get some to read ASAP! She doesn't spend too long on items that don't matter like some authors do. Her books are fantastic! Along for the Ride has everything you could ask for... beach, friends, bikes, AND hot guys! What else do you need?

Reader reviewed by Aud

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen is centered around a simple brainiac girl named Auden. Since she was little and her parents were fighting at all hours of the night she hasn't had a good night sleep. It is the summer before she goes to college and instead of being just a waitress for her some what unemotional mother she decides its time for a change. She packs up and goes to her fathers for the summer. She is welcomed by her step mother and new baby sister who seems to never stop crying.

Auden has never had the social interaction of a normal child. Her parents saw her as an adult so they treated her as one. She never got to go out and just be a kid. This is when Auden meets Eli. Eli who is guilt stricken by the death of his best friend also stays up most nights and they form a friendship fast. They embark and a Quest to help Auden do all the things that she never accomplished in her childhood so she can at least have the chance. For the first time ever Auden actually gets to experience what it is like to be young.

Sarah Dessen is a wonderful writer! If you haven't read her books.. you should go right now and get some to read ASAP! She doesn't spend too long on items that don't matter like some authors do. Her books are fantastic! Along for the Ride has everything you could ask for... beach, friends, bikes, AND hot guys! What else do you need?

Reader reviewed by trishalynn0708

This was my first book by Sarah Dessen and it is defiantly not my last. I absolutely
loved this book. I connected with the characters right from the start
and was sad to see the book end. But I am very happy with the ending.

Auden is the girl who few up too fast and only studied. She never did anything adventurous
until she met Eli. what an awesome couple. They both are insomniacs so
they meet up every night to go grocery shopping and hang out together.
it is fun to see her meet other girls her age and become with them, and
just have fun for once.

This was a really fun book and I loved the cover.

Reader reviewed by tay

This book is about Auden West. the girl who was all work no play her whole life. Until she decides to spend the summer with her dad, step-mom and new sister in thier house by beach.There she realizes she might have missed out on some things during her childhood. so her and her new friend Eli try to find some second chances for her.
This book was a quick but very entertaining read. it is a great book about life, love and second chances. i would reccomend reading all books by Sarah Dessen if you havent already.