Thou Shalt Not Road Trip

Gr 7 Up—Last summer Pastor Andy asked the teens in his youth group to write modern-day parables for the Sunday school kids. In a fit of inspiration, hunched near the a/c vent in his room to escape the Missouri summer heat, Luke Dorsey wrote and wrote. With a bit of help from Pastor Andy, as well as Pastor Mike and a raft of editors, he has, much to his surprise, ended up with a best-selling, spiritual self-help book called Hallelujah. This summer Luke is flying to Los Angeles to meet his capricious older brother, Matt, who is chauffeuring him cross-country on a promotional book tour. It turns out, however, that Matt has invited his girlfriend, Alex, along, as well as her younger sister, Fran. This is the same Fran who used to be Luke's best friend, debate team partner, and the love of his life, until she changed last year. She dyed her hair purple and scarred her ears with multiple piercings and her body with angry-looking tattoos. The journey becomes one of mishaps, late arrivals to signings, lost and regained faith, and forgiveness and acceptance. Luke and Fran reconcile, with Luke realizing that he has been judging her based on superficial trappings rather than valuing what's on the inside. Christian values are conveyed with humor, devoid of potentially preachy pitfalls. Although at times the characters lack depth and the situations they find themselves in are far from believable, readers will undoubtedly enjoy journeying with Luke as he promotes Hallelujah at various Christian establishments across the country.—Ragan O'Malley, Saint Ann's School, Brooklyn, NY