The summer road trip book of AWESOME! :D

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour
by Morgan Matson
344 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Publication Date: January 1st 2010
Source: Library
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Amy Curry is having a terrible year. Her mother has decided to move across the country and needs Amy to get their car from California to Connecticut. There's just one small problem: Since her dad died this past spring, Amy hasn't been able to get behind the wheel. Enter Roger, the ninteen-year-old who turns out to be unexpectedly cute... and dealing with some baggage of his own. 

Meeting new people and coming to terms with her father's death were not what Amy had planned on this trip. And traveling the Loneliest Road in America, seeing the Colorado mountains, crossing the Kansas plains, and visiting diners, dingy motels, and Graceland were definitely not on the itinerary. But as they drive, Amy finds that the people you least expected are the ones you may need the most - and that sometimes you have to get lost in order to find your way home.

Cover Review
It's okay. Nothing too special. But I do love the font choice and I think it's great that you can't see Amy or Roger's faces. I like being able to imagine characters in my head without book cover images getting in the way. :)

My Thoughts
I loved, loved, LOVED this book! I put off reading it for the longest time (over 2 years since publication danggg) and I am currently shaming myself for it. Bad Julia! VERY BAD!!!

The worst part is I actually sort of mocked this book. Okay not really but I used to always joke about it's cover and the character's holding hands and it being all cheesy and lovey dovey. I never even gave it a chance. Then I started reading some of the reviews for it and I realized it didn't sound that bad after all. I know, me and my judgemental summer romance attitude. I am such a party pooper. :P

Honestly, I don't know why I was so adverse to reading this book in the first place. Other than the fact that the characters are holding hands on the cover there really isn't much of a semblance for romance. Plus it's a road trip book. I LOVE ROAD TRIP BOOKS! And even if this book did have a lot of romance in it (which it really doesn't) I am a huge Sarah Dessen fan and basically everyone of her books is a romance. I think I need to start rethinking my romance mindset a bit.... AKA I can't rationalize that all contemporary novels not by Sarah Dessen are gonna be bad. :P

But enough on why I didn't read this book at first and more on how amazing this book is. Oh my gosh like OH MY FREAKING CRAP THIS IS THE BEST SUMMER READ EVER!!!! Seriously, I cannot think of a better book chock-full of summer road trip awesomeness, humor, and super cute boys.    I mean one of these guys creates animal topiaries. ANIMAL TOPIARIES!!!

I know. You're swooning already. If any guys are reading this that can actually make animal topiaries market that skill to the ladies dude. Tis hot.

Anyway Morgan Matson has officially become one of my new favorite contemporary authors. Her writing is amazing and has the perfect combination of seriousness and humor. One moment she'll have you getting all sympathetic and emotional and the next you'll be laughing uncontrollably. I cannot tell you how many times I found myself cracking up while reading this book. In fact once I was so loud my mom came up to ask me what I was laughing it. The humor is that amazing.

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour is also the best road trip book I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Morgan Matson swept me off onto this road trip journey with Amy and Roger and I wanted to be traveling right alongside them. I also loved the scrapbook elements sprinkled throughout the book. The pictures, receipts, playlists, and other random trip tidbits added a whole new dimension to the story and just served to make me want to go on a road trip even more. Unfortunately I do not possess the funds to do such a thing nor do I have a cute male companion ala Roger to go with. Any guys want to volunteer to be my road trip companion? I will pay you in candy and the wonderfulness of my presence!!! :P

Amy and Roger were both really fun characters. In fact I loved every character in this book which is rare for me. Well, I didn't love the evil ex-girlfriend but that's a given.... Anyway Amy in particular was great and I loved getting inside her head and watching her grow as a character throughout the course of the novel. Roger was also super sweet and adorable and kind of adorably perfect as far as contemporary novel guys go. He may not have been the dude who could make animal topiaries but he was still totally awesome.

Morgan Matson did a great job balancing out seriousness and fun in this novel. It wasn't all just fluff and romance. AKA the story didn't center on Amy trying to get a super hot summer hookup which was what I had feared. In fact there was very little romance which I LOVED. At its heart Amy and Roger's Epic Detour was a story about growing up and moving on and that was way better to me than any fluffy romance novel could ever be.

If you're looking for a summer read that's just plain amazing then please pick up Amy and Roger's Epic Detour! It's got a fantastic story, some awesome characters and great humor. You'll love it. I promise. I give Amy and Roger's Epic Detour 5 out of 5 ice cream cones!

Julia :)