Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Title: Along for the Ride
Author: Sarah Dessen
Publisher: Speak
Publication Date: June 11, 2009 (Hardcover)
Source: Library

Summary: It’s been so long since Auden slept at night. Ever since her parents’ divorce—or since the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live.


A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the death of a friend.

In her signature pitch-perfect style, Sarah Dessen explores the hearts of two lonely people learning to connect.

Review: My first ever Sarah Dessen book! I'd been meaning to get along to reading her books for a really long time. So many people told me how great her books were, so much that maybe I'd started to doubt it a little. I'm certainly not a doubter anymore, I'm a Dessen fan!

I loved the setting of Along for the Ride, it was perfect for the kind of book this was. And it was so vividly described. I loved being sucked into Auden's little world. Oh those laundrymats!

Auden was okay...but to tell the truth she annoyed me a little. She was critical, and not really girly. Which is probably the opposite of me. But I still appreciated her, she was going through a tough time and I liked seeing her come out of her shell.

But Eli was really what made this book for me. He was a really special guy and I loved how he became a person and Auden did too. I just really can't describe him!

Just a couple more words: I can't wait to read more Sarah Dessen!

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