Giveaway Review 100 SIDEWAYS MILES by ANDREW SMITH @marburyJack @simonteen @ladyreaderstuff (11/16)

I received this book at no cost from the publisher

100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith
Published by Simon and Schuster on 2014-09-02
Genres: Action & Adventure, Boys & Men, Family, General, Parents, Young Adult
Pages: 288
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Goodreads

Destiny takes a detour in this heartbreakingly hilarious novel from the acclaimed author of Winger, which Kirkus Reviews called “smart” and “wickedly funny.”Finn Easton sees the world through miles instead of minutes. It’s how he makes sense of the world, and how he tries to convince himself that he’s a real boy and not just a character in his father’s bestselling cult-classic book. Finn has two things going for him: his best friend, the possibly-insane-but-definitely-excellent Cade Hernandez, and Julia Bishop, the first girl he’s ever loved. Then Julia moves away, and Finn is heartbroken. Feeling restless and trapped in the book, Finn embarks on a road trip with Cade to visit their college of choice in Oklahoma. When an unexpected accident happens and the boys become unlikely heroes, they take an eye-opening detour away from everything they thought they had planned—and learn how to write their own destiny.

100 SIDEWAYS MILES
by: Andrew Smith
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 277
Published: September 2, 2014

Finn Easton sees the world through miles instead of minutes. It’s how he makes sense of the world, and how he tries to convince himself that he’s a real boy and not just a character in his father’s bestselling cult-classic book. Finn has two things going for him: his best friend, the possibly-insane-but-definitely-excellent Cade Hernandez, and Julia Bishop, the first girl he’s ever loved.

Then Julia moves away, and Finn is heartbroken. Feeling restless and trapped in the book, Finn embarks on a road trip with Cade to visit their college of choice in Oklahoma. 

When an unexpected accident happens and the boys become unlikely heroes, they take an eye-opening detour away from everything they thought they had planned—and learn how to write their own destiny.

Amazon |B&N |IndieBound  Goodreads | Free Preview |Powell’s

 

MY THOUGHTS:  ABSOLUTELY IT

Finn has been immortalized in fiction.  His father based a character in his best-selling, cult classic on him and although his dad uses a pen name, people freak when they realize Finn is Finn.  After his mother was killed and he was injured in a bazaar  accident when a horse fell off a bridge and struck them,  he still carries the scars of the surgeries need to repair his body.  Cade, Finn’s best friend and somewhat protector, is the school star baseball pitcher and smart ass., who says what most people would like to but are much too polite.  Each day, Cade makes up a new description for what Finn’s scars resemble.  It varies from sexual innuendos to the inane.  Since Finn also suffers from epilepsy because of the accident,  his mind thinks in distance traveled rather than time.  I found that odd little quirk quite endearing.

As the school year progresses, Finn has success on the baseball field and finally finds love with the girl who moves in down the street from him. Julia is everything he has ever dream about and when she returns his feelings, he is over the moon.  Thankfully, Smith inserts lots of stargazing analogies into this equation.  Julia witnesses an ‘episode” and treats Finn normally which makes him fall even more in love with her.  When Julia returns back to Chicago, (sorry, no spoilers), they do manage to keep in touch and inspires Cade to detour on their trip to visit a college they both would like to attend.  That is one amazing road trip for the boys.  It brings together all major coming of age tales into one magnificent conclusion.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Smith at several book fests, but for some reason never picked up any of his books until a friend and author really forced me to buy Grasshopper Jungle.  I still haven’t read that but now I have moved it up in my TBR pile.  This story was full of all the stuff I like:  humor, sarcasm, and the fact that growing up doesn’t happen all at once.  Parents:  there is language, alcohol and drug references, sexual situations. They are all kept in fitting with the story and not gratuitous.  I especially loved how Finn interacted with his parents and that they took the time to let him grow while entrusting him to make the right choice.   Most kids do make the right choice given the chance.

Andrew Smith is the award-winning author of several Young Adult novels, including the critically acclaimed WINGER (Starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Booklist, and Shelf Awareness—an Amazon “Best of the Year”) and THE MARBURY LENS (A YALSA BFYA, and Starred reviews and Best of the Year in both Publishers Weekly and Booklist).

He is a native-born Californian who spent most of his formative years traveling the world. His university studies focused on Political Science, Journalism, and Literature. He has published numerous short stories and articles.

 STAND OFF, the sequel to WINGER, coming in January 2015, is his ninth novel. Andrew lives in Southern California.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Events | Goodreads  

November 3^rd ~ The Pirate Tree – Review

November 3^rd ~ Roof Beam Reader – Review

November 3^rd ~ Cabin Goddess – Mom & Son Review with a Recipe

November 3^rd ~ Bookish – Review

November 3^rd ~ Lookandseebeanazed – Review

November 4^th ~ The Reader and the Chef – Review

November 4^th~The Bookish Confections – Review

November 4^th ~ Fangirlish – Review

November 4^th ~ Reads All The Books – Review

November 5^th ~ Word Spelunking – Review

November 5^th ~ Debbie Bookish – Review

November 5^th ~ Books and Bling – Review

November 5^th ~ Falling For YA – Review

November 5^th ~ I Read Banned Books  – Review

November 5^th ~ Ringo The Cat – Review

November 5^th ~ A Leisure Moment – Review

November 6^th ~ Reading on the Farm – Review

November 6^th ~ Blogging Between the Lines – Review

November 6^th ~ Bookhounds YA – Review

November 6^th ~ What A Nerd Girl Says – Review

November 6^th ~ Movies, Shows & Books – Review

November 6^th ~ Deal Sharing Aunt  – Review

November 7^th ~ Pixie Vixen Book Reviews – Review

November 7^th ~ roro is Reading – Review

November 7^th ~ The Reader and the Chef – Review

November 7^th ~ Reads All The Books – Review

November 7^th ~ Laura Kreitzer, Bestselling Author  – Review

November 7^th ~ LRB – Karin Baker  – Review

November 7^th ~ Read Now Sleep Later – Review

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Related Posts