Dodgers by William Beverly

Four LA gang kids set off to kill a judge in Wisconsin, but that task is just the setup for a complex personal drama about gangs and personal growth. You can take the kid out of LA, but can you take the gang out of the kid?

East is a 15-year-old on a path to redeem himself to the kingpin after a raid and shootout at the drug house where he oversaw security. Making sure this hit goes perfectly would be proof of loyalty and trust, if only he could keep the rest of the team on task. The fact that the "gun" on this job is his estranged 13-year-old brother complicates things.

And complicate it does. I loved that there's no guessing what's going to happen next with this story - there's a twist at every turn. It's not a tough, violent gangsta story; it's more an internal story of East's evolving state of mind. He's got some decisions to make, and this roadtrip gives him some wide-open spaces to think.

The Haters by Jesse Andrews

Three teens ditch out of jazz camp to hit the road and try their luck as a band: Wes and Corey are enthusiastic but merely average players on bass and drums - Ash, on the other hand, is exceptional as a blues fusion guitarist and songwriter and singer and instigator and dream girl ...

It's a fantastic road trip book with relatable characters and the kind of accidents and happenstance that occur on an ill-planned youth odyssey. The gang's on-going banter about band names especially rings so, so true.

This book's been getting a lot of press as a hot summer teen fiction release, and it's well worth the time.

The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai

Concerned for the welfare of a favorite library patron, a children's librarian bumbles into an unplanned cross-country roadtrip. But is she trying to save 10-year-old Ian, is she trying to save herself, or is he saving her?

The more you love libraries, librarians, and children's books the better you'll like this novel: Lucy the librarian is a story evangelist, spreading joy and discovery through the books she thinks are important. And without making you embarrassed about the books you haven't read, the author peppers the novel with children's books and characters that you DO know (or are almost certainly familiar enough with to understand).

I loved the way that Makkai keeps you guessing the whole book. What happens? Do they get caught? Do they go to Canada? Is she in jail? (Plus, she makes it hard to find out by sneaking a peek at the last page!)

Handling Sin by Michael Malone

Raleigh Hayes is a solid, conservative, thoughtful, civic-minded insurance agent. He's plotted and planned his life to be risk-reduced and bland - but he's about to realize you just can't count on everybody else playing by your rules.

His divorced, defrocked father just escaped from the hospital, bought a Cadillac, and took off for New Orleans with a young black woman. He's left in his wake a list of crazy, unexplained tasks for Raleigh to perform in order to preserve his inheritance.

The task list pushes Raleigh into a wild, scavenger-hunt-type road trip adventure that will shake up his whole life. Along the way he'll discover friends, family, and (gasp) *fun* that he hadn't planned on.

I found this book by way of a list of "best comic novel" recommendations. It's long (600 pages), but you'll be hooked by Raleigh's reluctant, inadvertent journey.

Going Bovine by Libba Bray

Apparently, I'm a sucker for a good roadtrip story - and this one is excellent!

Basically, a teen with terminal degenerative "mad cow disease" takes off to save the world (and himself) on a road trip with the kid from the next hospital bed - a hypochondriac teen dwarf. Along the way, there's a punk angel, a cursed Norse god stuck in yard gnome form, Disneyworld, fire demons, and a not-so-dead jazz legend. Among others.

Throughout, you're never sure if the book's a fantasy, if the trip is really happening, or if the whole thing is just part of Cameron's brain deteriorating. Maybe all three.

Funny, touching, and thoroughly entertaining.