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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This story combines first love, academic challenges, war and PTSD, unemployment and family struggles, and friendship into a compelling, emotional, and heartwarming novel. Their is so much growth in all three of the Avila siblings as they go on a road trip that will change all of their lives as well as the reader's.
Teodora and Xochitl Avila are excited that their brother Manny is finally coming home from Afghanistan. However when they learn Manny has PTSD, Xochitl decides to take her brothers on a road trip in order to help Manny deal with it. This book is one big emotional journey for the Avila siblings. Teodora is conflicted between helping his brother and improving himself in order to get the grades needed to get into college. Flores-Scott captures the love as well as the conflicts between the siblings. Loyalty among family comes off very strong. There is even a little romance between Teodora and a girl named Wendy Martinez that is very cute. Readers see the seriousness of PTSD through Manny's struggles and the toil it takes on Teodora and Xochitl. Must read for readers of realistic fiction.
Things I loved: Mexican-American representation, green chile cheeseburgers!!, supportive family, T's determination to change his life. The realities of PTSD and how this can affect family members, too.
Things I didn't love: The dialogue is pretty unnatural. Wendy & T's conversation doesn't sound the way teens talk. (it reminded me of The Inexplicable Logic of My Life in this regard) I also hated that Xoch and T felt responsible for "fixing" Manny, and that T's parents are portrayed as kind of helpless and not responsible enough. It's also upsetting that Xochitl doesn't tell her parents about the suicide note.
SLJ recommends this for 7th & up. I'm more inclined to recommend it to 8th & up because of the attempted suicide and scenes where Manny is dealing with flashbacks. This book is gorgeous and also tragic.
Things I didn't love: The dialogue is pretty unnatural. Wendy & T's conversation doesn't sound the way teens talk. (it reminded me of The Inexplicable Logic of My Life in this regard) I also hated that Xoch and T felt responsible for "fixing" Manny, and that T's parents are portrayed as kind of helpless and not responsible enough. It's also upsetting that Xochitl doesn't tell her parents about the suicide note.
SLJ recommends this for 7th & up. I'm more inclined to recommend it to 8th & up because of the attempted suicide and scenes where Manny is dealing with flashbacks. This book is gorgeous and also tragic.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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.
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
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.
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.
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated