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mediocrem's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
msethna's review against another edition
4.0
In this heartbreaking novel, Flores-Scott tells the story of how a young man and his sister drop everything in their fight to help their brother who is battling PTSD after returning from Afganistan. This is the story of true sacrifice. While there were some slow parts, this book opened my eyes to how families are affected by PTSD. It is not rainbows and sunshine for many of our military when they try to return home after their stints in the military.
meks17's review
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
blondelibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
T is starting to reach for a dream when his older brother, Manny, returns from duty with crippling PTSD. Sister X drags them all on a road trip from Seattle to New Mexico in the hopes of saving them all.
Couldn’t put it down. Cried my eyes out.
It is online as a graphic novel. Beautiful.
Couldn’t put it down. Cried my eyes out.
It is online as a graphic novel. Beautiful.
kathiggscoulthard's review against another edition
5.0
American Road Trip takes on the complexity of what happens when the war comes home. Told through the experiences of Teodoro, readers gain understanding about the effects of war on returning soldiers and their families. A compelling story that I could not put down.
xmilyhu's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
sophia_she1's review against another edition
5.0
as someone with no experience, i think he handled the ptsd really well
and he motivated me for school right as summer's ending so thx :)
and he motivated me for school right as summer's ending so thx :)
fishari's review against another edition
4.0
We still can’t do half stars? I give it 3.5.
If you haven’t heard, this book has been adapted into a comic on the Webtoon app. I started reading it as a webtoon first, and then just felt like pieces of the story were missing? Or that I didn’t want to wait. Then I found out it was based on a novel and I thought “ohhh, I should DEFINITELY just give that a read.”
As far as comparing it to the webtoon, you don’t miss too much too much reading it as a comic. The writing isn’t that lofty in that there are long descriptions of things that you would have missed out on. There are some subtle things here and there, and with the webtoon—despite there being pictures—I felt like I had to re-read a couple times to get what was going on. The dialogue and other text is pulled directly from the book. The webtoon hasn’t been released in full (as of my writing this) and I may come back and give this review an update once it’s all out so that I can give them a better compare.
There’s so much that can be talked about with this book, I could 100% make a reading guide for it with all the themes that are explored. This story explores topics like: family, war, mental health, love (new and old), shitty decisions making, and brotherhood. Sacrifice is also a big theme in this book, as in, was that sacrifice even worth it? I’m talking about going to war, but I’m also talking about the choices the sister, Xochitl makes. Teodoro, who is an excellent main character, is constantly exploring individuality vs family. Where does he draw the line between him as an individual and his allegiance to his family? Growing up in an ethnic household I also struggled with this back and forth.
Things this book is not about? Er, road trips? I wouldn’t say it’s a road trip book, despite being called that, but there is a road trip in it, and it is does showcase some cool west coast cities. I just think it could have been titled something different. But who knows? Maybe there’s an editor somewhere who made that choice.
The three main characters are constantly making complicated decisions and there are times at each point that I wanted to give up on each of them. There are some moments in the story where you’re like “wait, what just happened? That happened fast, why did we just skim over that?” And then there are other moments where I’m like “woah, that was heavy.”
I guess I’m not technically the “YA audience” anymore but I generally still enjoy YA books just as much, so that’s why I read them. But occasionally there is a book that I’m like “oh, I would have liked this better as a teenager,” and this is one of those books. So that’s really just why it gets 3.5 stars from me. Also, {SPOILER} I wasn’t that happy with the ending. I wanted to see and ending where T went back to Washington State. And if I were writing it, I think I would have tried harder to make that work.
I can see myself going out of my way to recommend it to teens, especially young men of color. Books like this—that discuss the aftermath effects of war to kids who are actively being recruited in the military, that show underperforming students fail and succeed and achieve on their own terms, that give a good representation of Hispanic families—need to exist, and I’m glad it does.
I also want to say I read in one other review someone being annoyed that they had to Google how to pronounced Xochitl. Um, too bad? As someone with a hard to pronounce name, it is SO nice to see a name like that as a main character. The author could have definitely just been like, eh, Maria is fine. No, they purposely made a different choice, and that’s awesome.
Now, somebody tell me where I can try a Hatch green chili cheeseburger?
If you haven’t heard, this book has been adapted into a comic on the Webtoon app. I started reading it as a webtoon first, and then just felt like pieces of the story were missing? Or that I didn’t want to wait. Then I found out it was based on a novel and I thought “ohhh, I should DEFINITELY just give that a read.”
As far as comparing it to the webtoon, you don’t miss too much too much reading it as a comic. The writing isn’t that lofty in that there are long descriptions of things that you would have missed out on. There are some subtle things here and there, and with the webtoon—despite there being pictures—I felt like I had to re-read a couple times to get what was going on. The dialogue and other text is pulled directly from the book. The webtoon hasn’t been released in full (as of my writing this) and I may come back and give this review an update once it’s all out so that I can give them a better compare.
There’s so much that can be talked about with this book, I could 100% make a reading guide for it with all the themes that are explored. This story explores topics like: family, war, mental health, love (new and old), shitty decisions making, and brotherhood. Sacrifice is also a big theme in this book, as in, was that sacrifice even worth it? I’m talking about going to war, but I’m also talking about the choices the sister, Xochitl makes. Teodoro, who is an excellent main character, is constantly exploring individuality vs family. Where does he draw the line between him as an individual and his allegiance to his family? Growing up in an ethnic household I also struggled with this back and forth.
Things this book is not about? Er, road trips? I wouldn’t say it’s a road trip book, despite being called that, but there is a road trip in it, and it is does showcase some cool west coast cities. I just think it could have been titled something different. But who knows? Maybe there’s an editor somewhere who made that choice.
The three main characters are constantly making complicated decisions and there are times at each point that I wanted to give up on each of them. There are some moments in the story where you’re like “wait, what just happened? That happened fast, why did we just skim over that?” And then there are other moments where I’m like “woah, that was heavy.”
I guess I’m not technically the “YA audience” anymore but I generally still enjoy YA books just as much, so that’s why I read them. But occasionally there is a book that I’m like “oh, I would have liked this better as a teenager,” and this is one of those books. So that’s really just why it gets 3.5 stars from me. Also, {SPOILER} I wasn’t that happy with the ending. I wanted to see and ending where T went back to Washington State. And if I were writing it, I think I would have tried harder to make that work.
I can see myself going out of my way to recommend it to teens, especially young men of color. Books like this—that discuss the aftermath effects of war to kids who are actively being recruited in the military, that show underperforming students fail and succeed and achieve on their own terms, that give a good representation of Hispanic families—need to exist, and I’m glad it does.
I also want to say I read in one other review someone being annoyed that they had to Google how to pronounced Xochitl. Um, too bad? As someone with a hard to pronounce name, it is SO nice to see a name like that as a main character. The author could have definitely just been like, eh, Maria is fine. No, they purposely made a different choice, and that’s awesome.
Now, somebody tell me where I can try a Hatch green chili cheeseburger?
heykellyjensen's review against another edition
When Teo's brother Manny comes home from a tour of duty, he's not who he was before. Not a bit. But it's their sister Xochitl who decides it's time to deal with both Manny's challenges -- and T's own struggles -- by taking them from their rental by SeaTac down to Hatch, New Mexico, where they'll spend the summer helping Manny find treatment for his PTSD with their uncle who himself struggles post-service.
T as a character is totally fascinating. He's grown up in both sides of the economy: his family had steady middle class comfort until the economic collapse, wherein they let their home go underwater and moved into a rental unit. His parents took jobs well below their educational and experience levels just to make ends meet. As a result, T himself has sort of allowed himself to coast by on Cs and Ds. That is, until the day he meets Wendy, a girl from his past who talks about wanting to attend UW. Suddenly, T is motivated to change his ways and try to get into the school, too. He tries, getting into a special track at his school for those with potential who need the boost, and despite trying, he struggles. But he works with a tutor and finds that when he puts his mind to it, he IS as smart as he thinks he can be.
It's the road trip that changes everything, though. Suddenly, T and his siblings are in New Mexico, and they're joined by Wendy. . . who is there to help T study and rebuild the farm stand at his uncle's place. (It is, of course, also so they can reconnect and bond).
There's a LOT going on in this book, but it all works. This family loves one another, despite how much they're struggling with Manny's PTSD and the ways it impacts their own mental health. It's about how people sometimes put their dreams on hold to help others achieve theirs.
It's extremely rare to see a YA road trip book featuring a cast of characters of color. This is one of them, and this does a damn good job of looking at SO many aspects of a person's experience. Race, ethnicity, class, and education all play in smoothly. It also digs into healthcare and the ways that, during the book's timeframe (2008-2009), the VA wasn't a place that made mental health care for returning vets a priority or even accessible at all.
So many teens will see themselves in this story.
T as a character is totally fascinating. He's grown up in both sides of the economy: his family had steady middle class comfort until the economic collapse, wherein they let their home go underwater and moved into a rental unit. His parents took jobs well below their educational and experience levels just to make ends meet. As a result, T himself has sort of allowed himself to coast by on Cs and Ds. That is, until the day he meets Wendy, a girl from his past who talks about wanting to attend UW. Suddenly, T is motivated to change his ways and try to get into the school, too. He tries, getting into a special track at his school for those with potential who need the boost, and despite trying, he struggles. But he works with a tutor and finds that when he puts his mind to it, he IS as smart as he thinks he can be.
It's the road trip that changes everything, though. Suddenly, T and his siblings are in New Mexico, and they're joined by Wendy. . . who is there to help T study and rebuild the farm stand at his uncle's place. (It is, of course, also so they can reconnect and bond).
There's a LOT going on in this book, but it all works. This family loves one another, despite how much they're struggling with Manny's PTSD and the ways it impacts their own mental health. It's about how people sometimes put their dreams on hold to help others achieve theirs.
It's extremely rare to see a YA road trip book featuring a cast of characters of color. This is one of them, and this does a damn good job of looking at SO many aspects of a person's experience. Race, ethnicity, class, and education all play in smoothly. It also digs into healthcare and the ways that, during the book's timeframe (2008-2009), the VA wasn't a place that made mental health care for returning vets a priority or even accessible at all.
So many teens will see themselves in this story.
kileygrace07's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0