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I'm generally not a massive fan of teen road trip books (I loathed Paper Towns by John Green), but despite my initial misgivings I found myself liking this book. There's a little romance, a lot of self-discovery, resilience, and oodles geek love (tons of World of Warcraft  terminology and asides, but everything is explained for non-gamers). While trying to register for school (after a lengthy absence from battling cancer), Dylan snaps. They're not letting him register without his mom and his mom can't be bothered to come help him so he decides to take the car and just keep driving. Unsure of where he's going he finally settles for meeting his online gaming friend, Arden, a few hours away. He has no other friends to speak of, so meeting Arden sounds better than nothing. Plus maybe they can go on a quest together. Together they decide to go on a crazy road-trip to California to find a lost ship of pearls. It's not really the destination that matters though, it's the journey. Arden and Dylan are getting used to seeing each other IRL (in real life) and they have some issues to work out. Dylan is a gay boy and Arden is a trans girl. Will all the flirting they do in World of Warcraft surface on their road trip? What do they make of it? Also what impact will their living situations and money situations have on their situation? A great book for gamers and LGBTQ teens. It's nice to see some diversity in YA books for a change.

Absalom's Daughters

A quirky and heartfelt journey that will intrigue readers from the beginning. From an early age Cassie and Judith knew they were sisters. Even though Cassie was black and living with her mother and grandmother above a laundry shop and Judith was a white girl living with her redneck family, they knew they were sisters, and so did the whole town. Grandmother was obsessed with getting the family lighter and lighter because living in the Jim Crow south during the 50s was no cake walk for colored folks. In order to whiten the family line, grandmother would push her offspring to get knocked up by white men, hoping that in a few generations, no one would be none the wiser. When their father ran off (although he was certainly no father to poor Cassie and ignored her very existence) and left Judith's mom and siblings up shit creek, Judith has decided that she's had enough and she's going to make her own way in the world. She convinces Cassie to join her and together they dig an old car out of the woods and start a road trip across the south that they'll never forget. A wonderful read that has elements of folklore, mysticism, family, friendship, and heartbreak.