Customer Reviews

Hit the Road

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Hit the Road by Caroline B. Cooney is another terrific YA title by a prolific author. 16 year old Brit's parents have gone on vacation, leaving her under the care of her grandmother, Nannie. But Nannie has no intention of babysitting her teenage granddaughter or being babysat as well. Nannie and her two lifelong friend are determined to make it to their 65th college reunion, and if that means non-licensed Brit doing the driving and kidnapping a friend as well, so be it. Cooney has a real talent for getting inside teenagers' minds. Brit is selfish and rebellious, all without being unsympathetic. The idea of spending time with Nannie isn't what she wants to spend her free time. But as she spends time with her grandmother, she finds that they are in similar places in their lives. Both are on the verge of independence. Brit is about to break free from her parents' authority, while Nannie is just coming under it. Both struggle with the restraints place upon them, and Cooney manages to make the reality of growing old come alive even for a teen audience. This wonderfully written book is enjoyable to read and has a good message a well about doing what's right, even when it hurts.

"Brit had been there when Mom said to Nannie, 'Your eyes are so bad you can't tell the difference between a trash barrel and a two-year-old at the side of the road. Your knees are so stiff it takes you five minutes to brake. You have to stop driving.' Mom went right into Nannie's purse, fished out her driver's license, cut it in half and tossed it in the garbage. In vain, Nannie pleaded, 'Without a car all I can do is gather dust and stare out the window.' Because Nannie's house was three miles from a quart of milk, a committee meeting or a bridge game.
" 'I've hired an aide,' said Brit's mother briskly. 'She'll take you where you want to go. You won't even notice not having a car.'
"How could you not notice that you didn't have a car? Brit had been noticing that one all her life. She noticed every single kid who got their own car and every single one who didn't."

Now, months later, and exactly eleven days after sixteen-year-old Brittany Anne Bowman has gotten her own drivers license, she finds herself unceremoniously dumped--carless--at Nannie's Connecticut house as her parents head off on a trip to Alaska for a couple of weeks. But Nannie, who no longer moves very fast but is still sharp as a tack, has had quite enough of her daughter's tyranny and is ready to fight back in her own way. She and her three college roommates have formulated secret plans to hit the road together and attend their sixty-fifth year college reunion up in Maine. At that age it could well be their last chance.

But when Brit arrives, and it turns out that Nannie is too small to pilot the rental SUV that's, been delivered to her house, Brit suddenly finds herself behind the wheel of that GMC Safari, chauffeuring a pair of the octogenarians up through New England to a facility where one of the elderly quartet of long time friends has been fraudulently and involuntarily committed to an Alzheimer's ward by her money-grubbing son. Their springing Aurelia from Fox Hills Adult Community leads to wild chases, real dangers, and dirty double crosses.

Some of Brit's maneuvering involves cell phone conversations with hunky computer genius and aspiring filmmaker Cooper James, the young man Brit has had a crush on since seventh grade. (He is also the young man who hasn't spoken a word to her in months, since accidentally discovering that he was the unwitting subject of various documents stored in Brit's laptop, such as "Our Wedding" and "Our Honeymoon Plans.")

HIT THE ROAD is a total hoot. Author Caroline B. Cooney has achieved a very entertaining balance between the slapstick humor involving "the girls," the communications technology aspects that allow Brit's friends to be a vital part of the action without ever being inside the luxury SUV, and the story's a-ha moments, where readers will surly recognize how capricious treatment of the elderly by their adult children can seem so incredibly similar to the manner in which many young adults feel they are treated by their parents.

Caroline Cooney is a master at rapid paced action that takes your breath away.

When I bought HIT THE ROAD, I thought this one looks kind of tame and will be just a light read about a girl helping her grandmother -- NOT! There was nothing light or tame about this exciting adventure. The heroine's downhill race into danger and risk is thrilling. Just when you think things will get better, the danger increases. Caroline Cooney doesn't hold back with consequences, turning a simple drive into a perilous journey.

I couldn't stop flipping pages, eager to find out what happened next, surprised by a few plot turns, and completely satisfied when justice finally prevailed at the end.

It's no wonder that Caroline B. Cooney is one of my favorite authors. Next book I plan to buy of hers: CODE ORANGE.

Linda Joy Singleton

Caroline B. Cooney's latest novel, HIT THE ROAD, is without a doubt one of the funniest books I've ever read. Britanny is in for quite a surprise when she arrives at her grandmother's house to 'babysit' her while her parents are on an Alaskan vacation. You see, Nannie has plans of her own--none of which includes staying home and watching tv--so Brit, relunctantly at first, joins her schemes little knowing how those adventures would change her life.

The plan? To pick up her former college roomates Flo, Aurelia, and Daisy and head to their 65th college reunion in Maine.

The problem? All of these ladies have been told by their adult children that they are NOT going to be allowed to go because they are too sick, too old, or too senile. In fact, Aurelia is in a facility for Alzheimer's under constant guard.

The solution? Using a rental car, and a newly licensed 16 year old...drive across New England, pick up Flo, and kidnap Aurelia, etc.

But Plan A is always being revised...you see it's not easy for Brit to follow the plan when her Nannie can't remember which town, which street, or even the last name of her best friend, Flo.

What happens along the way is both hilarious and bittersweet, as Brit gets to know these "girls" she learns some life lessons of her own.

Full of humor, action, adventure...HIT THE ROAD is an amazing novel.

If you want to read one of the most hilarious books of the summer, then you definitely need to pick up a copy of HIT THE ROAD by Caroline B. Cooney. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard, or so often, while reading a book. If you've always believed that people over the age of eighty are nothing but dried up old husks of their former selves, then you need to meet the Buttermeres: Nannie Rawlings, Florence Mirsky, Aurelia Alan, and Daisy Ferrer. And the girl destined to either make an entire carload of new friends, or go crazy in the process, Brittany Anne Bowman.

Forced into her grandmother's care for two weeks while her parents cruise around Alaska, neither Brit nor Nannie particularly want to be babysat. After her own daughter cut her driver's license in half, took away her car, and left her to gather dust, Nannie Rawlings isn't in the best of moods. She's already missed out on last year's Reunion with her three best friends, but this year is number sixty-five, and she has no intention of not attending. So she gets a new license (through less than noble means), rents a car, and sets off with her granddaughter to pick up her friends. Brit soon realizes that if she wants to make it to the Reunion alive and in one piece, she's going to have to be the driver/chaueffer. Which isn't that bad except for situations like this:

"Nannie!" she yelled. "Read the signs! Tell me what to do! Do we want the Cross Island Parkway? Two-ninety-five? Four-ninety-five? The Van Wyck? The L.I.E.? The Long Island Expressway?"

"Those two are the same road."

"But do we want them?" Brit shrieked.

Thus begins a road trip that no one involved is likely to ever forget. Between convincing her parents via cell phone that they're at Nannie's house watching loud television, and convincing the "girls" that no one at the nursing home will realize they're gone, to avoiding the ruthless, money-hungry son of one of their own, HIT THE ROAD is a laugh-out-loud, nonstop story that will have you turning pages long into the night. A winning read that is as emotional as it is funny, Ms. Cooney has penned a definite winner.

Sixteen-year-old Brit has only had her license for 11 days when her parents drop her off at her Nannie's house while they go on vacation to Alaska. Little does Brit realize, but she's about to get the driver's education of her life. Nannie doesn't plan on sitting in the house for the next two weeks; she has bigger things in store. Nannie and her three best friends from college --- Flo, Aurelia and Daisy --- have gone to every single reunion since their college graduation up until last year, when their adult children won. Their children deemed them "too old and sick" to attend. Nannie has decided, however, that this year "They lose. I'm the driver."

Brit knows this is a problem. Not only is Nannie's eyesight poor, she also can't reach the gas and break pedals. That's why Brit's mother sold Nannie's Cadillac and cut up Nannie's license. But that still doesn't stop the plan to go to Reunion. Nannie gets a replacement license and a rental car. Now Brit is faced with a dilemma --- either let her grandmother drive and risk injury to herself and others, or Brit will be the driver. Even though Brit has her driver's license, it's illegal for her to drive a rental car, plus she'd get in big trouble with her parents. Nevertheless, Brit loves her grandmother and feels sad that Nannie and "the girls" won't make this special Reunion without her. Putting her best judgment aside, Brit reluctantly agrees and begins the tri-state road trip of her life.

But there are many bumps in the road. Brit has to drive crazy and scary highways from Connecticut to Long Island where they pick up Flo. Her cell phone is ringing off the hook and she's repeatedly lying to her parents concerning her whereabouts. And they have to kidnap Aurelia from the nursing home that her evil son Aston III has put her in without her consent. Aurelia insists her son is just out to get her money, but Aston argues that his mother has Alzheimer's and doesn't know what she's doing. When he finds out that Brit has taken his mother out of the home, he threatens the teen. The action comes to a head when Brit and Aston come face to face.

HIT THE ROAD is a very different type of road trip story. Brit realizes that the more time she spends with "the girls" the more enlightenment she has on her own life. While Brit's life is truly just beginning, the girls spend their time reminiscing about times in the past. The friendship and bonds between these old women inspire Brit to help the girls get to their beloved reunion despite all the bumps they encounter. Brit's cell phone plays a key role in the story, which is refreshing to see in modern YA fiction. Her phone gives her a link to the outside world where she can connect with her parents, friends, and her crush/helper/friend, Coop. Coop does all sorts of Internet research to help Brit as she is in the midst of her journey. While the story may start out a bit slow, it snowballs into a fast-paced adventure with some great characters you just can't help but love.

--- Reviewed by Kristi Olson

This was a great book. When I picked it up at the library and read the back I was intreagued at that moment.

Brittany Bowman has had her driver's license for exactly eleven days. If she were a normal soon-to-be high school senior, she'd be spending her summer vacation driving around her Connecticut home town. Sadly, Brittany's parents have left their one and only car at the airport and flown off to Alaska for a vacation. Brit will be spending the next two weeks with her grandmother, who doesn't even have a car. Boredom guaranteed...or maybe not.

Day one of her summer vacation and Nannie has roped Brit into a truly outrageous plan. Brit will be chauffeuring Nannie and her three life-long best friends to their sixty-fifth college reunion in Maine. There are just a couple of problems with the plan. Brit is not old enough to drive a rental and, oh yeah, they'll have to break one of `the girls' out of the facility to which her son has had her committed (in order to get control of her money, the girls contend.)

Bolstered by occasional cell phone calls from her friend Cooper, Brit has to decide just how far she's willing to let the girls go. Along the way, she'll learn a lot about friendship and loyalty and a little about criminal mischief!

I wouldn't say that this was one of the funniest, or even best books that I have ever read, but it did keep me entertained until the very last page. This book had many unexpected, but clever turns that helped the story better progress. I would recommend this book for someone who isn't looking for something amazing, but for a book that is defiantly worth $6.50. (Which is what I paid for it.)

This is a very good book that I have read!! It is very good for teenagers!!!!!