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Publisher: Random House
Pub. Date: May, 2008
ISBN-13: 9780345501103
320pp
Book Room Review
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In Driving Sideways by Jess Riley Leigh Fielding wants a life. Seriously. Having spent the past five years on dialysis, she
has one simple wish: To make it to her
thirtieth birthday. Now, thanks to the generosity of the late Larry Resnick and his transplanted kidney, it looks like her wish
may come true.
With her newfound vitality (and Larry’s kidney) in tow, Leigh hits the road for
an excursion that will carry her from Wisconsin to California, with a few stops
in between: Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, the Rockies, Las Vegas–and a
memorable visit to thank Larry’s family for the second chance.
Yet, Leigh’s itinerary takes a sudden detour when she picks up a
seventeen-year-old hitchhiker, Denise, a runaway with a bunch of stories and a
couple of secrets. Add a long-lost mother, a loaded gun, an RV full of
swingers, and Hall and Oates’s Greatest Hits to the mix, and Driving
Sideways becomes a hilarious and original journey of friendship, hope, and
discovery.
Here is a passage from the
book:
“But there’s still that stomach-churning
mystery, so I’ve made a list of things we could talk about on the walk to avoid
any awkward silence:
10. Whatever happened to Danny
Pintauro
9. The
most awful way to learn there isn’t a Santa Claus
8. Best and worst breakups,
wedding, and funeral songs
7. Celebrity we’d most like to
see tossed into a pool full of water moccasins
6. Best no mainstream
coming-of-age book and/or movie
5 Sequels
4 Greeting cards you’ll never see
(Since your stroke, Grandma you may not remember me…..but I want to wish you a
happy birthday anyway)
3. Best and worst smells in
the world, excluding the obvious. And why
2. Things we ate as children
that we wouldn’t ingest now for less than $7,638.
1. Heaven, hell, limbo, or
what? Wacky religious stories from our youth.”
I flat out loved this book! First, Jess Riley’s writing is so witty and
clever I was chuckling to myself throughout Driving
Sideways. Second, I fell in love
with the character of Leigh and her friends, especially Denise. I think I loved Leigh because she is like me
in a lot of ways. She is full of useless
pop culture information. She is also
scared of branching out on her own and this trip she goes on is a big step for
her and in turn becomes a life changing experience. The ending is like life in that it is not
wrapped up in a perfect bow but is truly fitting. Driving
Sideways is full of adventure, humor, hope and most of all love. It will make you want to grab your best friend
and go for an adventure and experience this wonderful life that we have.
Book Room Grade
A-
Review Posted: August 5, 2008
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