Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Auden has spent the first 18 years of her life staying indoors, studying, preparing for college, and trying to keep up with her mother's extremely high expectations.  The summer before she goes to college, however, she makes a last minute decision to live at the beach with her father, her new stepmother, and newborn baby sister for 3 months.  There she meets a group of girls, that she becomes unexpectedly good friends with.  She also meets a boy, Eli, who she has an instant connection with and is trying to recover from the loss of his best friend.  Auden spends the summer trying to make up for all she missed out on during her childhood, while developing relationships in unexpected places.

I loved this book!  It was an easy read and if you like Sarah Dessen, you will not be disappointed.   A word of advice: the book reads quickly, but pay attention as Dessen sometimes jumps between  conversations Auden has with different people with very little warning.  This book can be found on our ITA Nominee 2011-2012 display shelf.


If you are interested, here is a interview with Sarah Dessen about how she came up with the story: