Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Standalone. Simon & Schuster (May 2010) Library 

When you're on a road trip, life is all about the detours....

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 nineteen-year-old son of an old family friend, 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. 

Well I absolutely loved this book... Amy's been living a month in her now sold home in California while her brother is in rehab in North Carolina and her mother is in Connecticut "settling in" into their new home. The truth is after the death of her father their family just hasn't been the same and no one has once talked about what happened on that fateful day.

Amy's mother decides that Amy must come up to Connecticut before her senior year starts and she must do so by bringing the car she left behind with her. Knowing full well Amy hasn't been able to drive since her father's passing she enrolls the help of Roger, the son of a family friend, who has his own agenda for taking Amy on her trip. Filled with heartbreaking and sweet moments and unbelievably fantastic characters Amy and Roger's Epic Detour is a must read!

Wow! I fell in love with this story and its characters. If you know any great road trip stories please tell me because I want to read them all! Amy's having a hard time coping with her father's death which is to be expected since he only died three months ago. You get some flashbacks of moments her father and she shared - Charlie, her twin, was there too - that shows some great moments between the two. For me I mostly saw the bond between her and her father as well as the struggle of her father's loss rather than romance all the time - what a concept! You could actually feel Amy's emotions and Matson wasn't afraid to let Amy's emotions out minus one scene I wanted more out of. So most of the book it wasn't Amy constantly fixated on how cute Roger was although there were moments. The gradual strangers to friendship to romance in this story were done remarkably well. Amy and Roger were adorable together and I liked how both their journeys mixed into one. 

The book had playlists, receipts, notes, and other things from the various places they visited - such a great idea to make the book feel more real for the reader. I actually didn't expect that much of a detour coming into this story but I'm glad it ended up being that way because you could really see the characters progress and have some self discovery come into their lives. I really want to go on another road trip book because of these two. I've been on kind of one myself but it wasn't as fun or as long as this one and it just reminds me of how little I've seen of America.

All in all I have only two minor complaints about this book including that certain scene I wanted more emotion to come out of as well as questionable sex scenes that occurred (I'm an old lady at heart so don't mind me). It wasn't explicit at all and really Amy was being depicted as a regular teen so it made sense it's just me most likely. Other than those two things this book was better than I could hope for. The story being centralized not on the romance but on both protagonists own journeys was a breath of fresh air. I have to make sure to keep an eye on Morgan Matson in the future.