A Lite Too Bright

In the space of one month, eighteen-year-old Arthur Louis Pullman the Third lost his girlfriend, his best friend, and his tennis scholarship. Brooding and isolated at his aunt and uncle's house in California, he comes across an enigmatic poem written by his deceased grandfather, Arthur Louis Pullman the First. The third Arthur is ecstatic, as his grandfather was a Salinger-like writer who penned one cult novel before succumbing to Alzheimer's disease. Convinced that the poem holds hidden clues that will explain his grandfather's sudden disappearance and death five years ago in, of all places, Ohio, Arthur decides to retrace his steps via Amtrak. Along the way he encounters reporters, barflies, and revolutionaries who all seem to have known his grandfather better than he did. When his journey concludes on the grounds of Kent State ?University, Arthur finally understands both his namesake's "greater purpose" and his own. Debut author Miller peppers his well-paced chapters with the poetry of ALP the First, a (not-always-successful) cross between Jack Kerouac and E. E. Cummings. And while there are a few too many implausible coincidences and connections, this earnest homage to writers, rebels, and the evergreen ideals of youth will appeal to fans of John Green and Gayle Forman. jennifer hubert swan