Megan Rambles About Amy & Roger's Epic Detour

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
From Goodreads:Amy Curry thinks her life sucks. Her mom decides to move from California to Connecticut to start anew--just in time for Amy's senior year. Her dad recently died in a car accident. So Amy embarks on a road trip to escape from it all, driving cross-country from the home she's always known toward her new life. Joining Amy on the road trip is Roger, the son of Amy's mother's old friend. Amy hasn't seen him in years, and she is less than thrilled to be driving across the country with a guy she barely knows. So she's surprised to find that she is developing a crush on him. At the same time, she's coming to terms with her father's death and how to put her own life back together after the accident. Told in traditional narrative as well as scraps from the road--diner napkins, motel receipts, postcards--this is the story of one girl's journey to find herself.

It's SUMMER! Which means, ROAD TRIP. Since I can't actually take a road trip (don't have a car/license and can't drive, no big deal) I have decided to read ALL OF THE ROAD TRIP BOOKS this summer. 

First, A MILLION THANKS TO KATHERINE for giving me this book for my birthday. I hadn't heard of it before, so I wouldn't have experienced the AWESOME that is this book without you. 

Obviously, I love road trip books. So I had some pretty high expectations, which this book exceeded. When Amy's mother tells her she needs to drive the family car across the country from California to Connecticut, there is one small problem. Amy doesn't drive. Not since her father died in a terrible accident three months before. ENTER ROGER. The kid Amy and her brother used to hang out with when they were little, he's grown up. And I think Amy and I can both agree, he's grown up WELL.

I totally love Roger. Everything about him is just amazing. He's caring and has such a big heart! I completely felt for him throughout the whole book. While trying to figure out why Amy seems to act so strange occasionally, he also has plenty of his own baggage to deal with. I won't spoil what's up with him, because you'll have to read to find out for yourself!


I really liked Amy as a character too. She wasn't totally bad ass like some of the other heroines I love, but she was really strong. Losing her dad definitely wasn't easy for her, and throughout the story she has to struggle to deal with this horrible thing that happened to her and her family. I thought she handled it wayyyy better than I would have, and I was really proud of were she ended up at the end of the story. 


The other thing I absolutely loved about this book was the format of it. Thrown in with the story were actual pictures of the places Amy and Roger traveled through, receipts, and postcards that helped tell part of the story that might not have necessarily been in the text. All of the pictures were taken by the author, because Morgan Matson has actually taken the road trip described in the book! I thought that was just about the coolest thing ever, and it only made me want to take a road trip of my own even more!


I could ramble on about all of the reasons why this book is perfection and I love it for hours, but I know you probably don't want to listen to that. So instead I'll leave you with the "suggestion" to GO PICK UP A COPY OF THIS BOOK. I promise you won't regret it! And Rachel, as soon as we can drive, I have scheduled a road trip for you, me, and Katherine. Not optional. Just so you know.


-Megan