Some friends fade away....Others disappear.
Imagine you and your best friend head out West on a cross-country bike trek.
Imagine that the... read full description
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Feb 02, 2009
Shifting gears isn’t as easy at you’d think. Sometimes the chain catches; other times the incline proves more challenging than anticipated. In Jennifer Bradbury’s psychological mystery, it’s a bit of both, metaphorically speaking.
Best friends Chris and Win embark on a bike trek across the country, from West Virginia to the coast of Washington. At least that’s the plan. They have just graduated from high school and are eager to test themselves and explore the world. That seems to be w More...
Best friends Chris and Win embark on a bike trek across the country, from West Virginia to the coast of Washington. At least that’s the plan. They have just graduated from high school and are eager to test themselves and explore the world. That seems to be w More...
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Feb 26, 2009
Bobby
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Aug 29, 2008
Carter
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In Jennifer Bradbury's debut novel, two graduating high school seniors ride their bicycles across country, but only one of them returns from the journey. I thought Bradbury did a fantastic job at creating honest male characters - not something easily done. But she nailed it. I think that's what makes the book for me, seeing the relationship in its varying nuances between Chris and Win. It felt familiar.
One thing that I think would be great, and perhaps is in the works, is a sequel to More...
One thing that I think would be great, and perhaps is in the works, is a sequel to More...
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Nov 19, 2008
Diana
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Two friends head cross country on bicycles the summer after graduating from high school but only one makes it back for college. What happened on the trip? The F.B.I. wants to know.
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Jan 19, 2009
Clay
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Three and a half-stars. I liked this mystery/boy-finding-himself novel where college bound Chris's best friend Win vanishes on a summer cross country bike trip. Has a couple of stockish characters (the awful, overdetermined father and the FBI guy) and less would have been more in some of the weighty conversations toward the end, but I'll be looking for more from this author. Those in the book group: Could we talk about covers? This one sat in my pile too long because of the jacket. Didn't think
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Dec 30, 2008
Aaron
rated it:
Chris and his best friend have decided to use the summer after their high school graduation to ride cross country from Virginia to Seattle by bike. It is their last hurrah before they have to settle down with school.
In alternating chapters, you learn that things didn't turn out quite as they had expected as Win disappears during their extended bike ride. Chris has settled down at college only to be faced with accusations that at the very least he knows where Win is and even some susp More...
In alternating chapters, you learn that things didn't turn out quite as they had expected as Win disappears during their extended bike ride. Chris has settled down at college only to be faced with accusations that at the very least he knows where Win is and even some susp More...
Dec 27, 2008
Becky
rated it:
It's yellow. There's a bicycle. The cover alone could never persuade me to pick this one up. Yet, I'm glad I did. Really glad. I enjoyed this one a great deal. I like the way this one is told. I like the story. I like the characters. I like satisfying nature of it all. She made me care. The story isn't traditionally told--it's revealed in bits and pieces. We'd have one chapter set in the present, the next chapter set in the past, etc. (This framework is a trend I'm seeing quite a bit of in my Cy
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Sep 14, 2011
Riley
rated it:
In Shift by Jennifer Bradbury, friends Chris and Win—known as Chrisandwin by everyone at school for their attached-at-the-hip nature, decide to take a cross-country bike trip from their home in West Virginia to Washington state following their high school graduation. It’s both a last-hurrah before going off to separate colleges and a way to avoid the minimum wage drudgery of a summer job. But something goes not quite as planned—at least for Chris. He and Win (short for Winston) get separated t
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Jul 07, 2011
Lydia
rated it:
After high school graduation, Chris and Win, best of friends for more years than they can count, decide on a bicycle trip across country. Together they prepare for the trip, although, as usual, Win doesn't prepare as well as Chris. In fact, Chris did most of the preparation for the trip. The goal is to get to Seattle and come back by bus in time to start college. Only, Chris' bike breaks down just before they reach Seattle. After fixing his bike and going to catch with Win, Chris can't find him.
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Apr 16, 2011
Jen
rated it:
What a great rid this debut was from Jennifer Bradbury. "Shift" is the story of best friends Chris and Win, two high school graduates who decide to bike from West Virginia to Seattle during the summer before they start college. They end up fighting and stop riding together. Chris ends up in Seattle alone, heads on and starts college. He thinks Win did the same...but Win never made it home. This book takes us back on their journey and tries to answer the question - what happened to
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Jan 16, 2011
Suzanne
rated it:
The author's own cross country bike trip--hers a honeymoon--lends real authenticity to Chris & Win's trek from West Virginia to Washington State the day after high school graduation. Chris makes it to Washington and dips his wheel into the Pacific, but he's alone, Win having pedalled away without explanation when Chris stops to change a flat in Montana. After Chris takes the bus home to get ready for starting his freshman year at Georgia Tech, he learns that the uncle Win was claiming in Washing
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Oct 02, 2010
Jacky
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Jul 07, 2010
Mrs. Foley
rated it:
When best friends Chris and Win go on a cross country bicycle trek the summer after graduating and only one returns, the FBI wants to know what happened. - from library catalog
Gateway nominee 2010-2011
Review from Publisher's Weekly:
For best friends Chris and Win, nothing could be more gratifying than a two-month-long cross-country bike trip following high school graduation. But when Win suddenly disappears somewhere in Montana, and Chris, the narrator, returns home More...
Gateway nominee 2010-2011
Review from Publisher's Weekly:
For best friends Chris and Win, nothing could be more gratifying than a two-month-long cross-country bike trip following high school graduation. But when Win suddenly disappears somewhere in Montana, and Chris, the narrator, returns home More...
Feb 06, 2010
Tammy
rated it:
"Some friends fade away.....Other's disappear"
That quote appears on the cover and immediately pulled me in. Who doesn't love a good mystery?
Shift by Jennifer Bradbury is a page turner that's hard to put down.
Win and Chris have been best friends since elementary school. As graduation nears they decide to embark on one last great adventure before heading off to seperate colleges. A cross country bike trek from West Virginia to Seattle, Washington.
The story is told More...
That quote appears on the cover and immediately pulled me in. Who doesn't love a good mystery?
Shift by Jennifer Bradbury is a page turner that's hard to put down.
Win and Chris have been best friends since elementary school. As graduation nears they decide to embark on one last great adventure before heading off to seperate colleges. A cross country bike trek from West Virginia to Seattle, Washington.
The story is told More...
Jul 31, 2009
Bclement
rated it:
"On my honor, I pledge that I have neither given nor received unauthorized help on this assignment nor have I presented someone else's work as my own."
I chose to read Shift by Jennifer Bradbury for my summer reading. Shiftis a coming of age novel about two best friends, Chris and Win, who take a cross country bike trip during the summer before college, starting in West Virginia and ending in Seatle where Win has an uncle. Chris and Win have been raised in two complete More...
I chose to read Shift by Jennifer Bradbury for my summer reading. Shiftis a coming of age novel about two best friends, Chris and Win, who take a cross country bike trip during the summer before college, starting in West Virginia and ending in Seatle where Win has an uncle. Chris and Win have been raised in two complete More...
Jun 18, 2009
Paige Y.
rated it:
It seemed like the perfect idea. Two best friends, fresh from graduating from high school, set out on a cross-country bike trip. They even get their parents to agree to the idea. Then, sixty miles from their destination, the Washington coast, one of the friends disappears. Now the friend that is left has to deal with the questions and demands of the family who is not happy their only son is gone.
Chris is now starting his freshman year at Georgia Tech, and he’s furious with his f More...
Chris is now starting his freshman year at Georgia Tech, and he’s furious with his f More...
Apr 29, 2009
Sam
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Mar 19, 2010
Andrew
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One of the first things that drew me to the book was the inviting cover. The author, Jennifer Bradbury did an amazing job in showing how two teenagers feel as they end their high school career and begin their adulthood. I can vividly remember the insecurities and doubts that I had when I was ending high school and embarking on college. I admire the way in which the two characters, Win and Chris were able to go on a bike journey that took them across the country, from West Virginia to Washingt
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Dec 08, 2009
Kayla
rated it:
Friends, Chris and Winston embark on an adventure to the Pacific coast. For Chris, it was to just get away for a while and enjoy being a young adult, for Winston, well he had wanted to get away, FOREVER. By the end of the book you find out that Winston's parents were not exactly the ideal parents for a late teen or young adult; just being let go from the place called "home." Winston and Chris find a welcoming couple: Morgan and Effie, they were taken in by these two helpful,friendly st
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Sep 18, 2010
Smart_chic
rated it: 
Best friends Chris and Winston take a cross-country bicycle ride from West Virginia to Washington State the summer after high school graduation. What is supposed to be one last adventure before they leave for different colleges turns into a mystery when only Chris returns home.
Chapters alternate between recounting the events of the trip and the investigation into Winston's disappearance. Chris soon realizes he is the prime supect and must do everything he can to find his friend.
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Chapters alternate between recounting the events of the trip and the investigation into Winston's disappearance. Chris soon realizes he is the prime supect and must do everything he can to find his friend.
More...
Sep 18, 2011
Anastasia
rated it:
Excellent book--deep, interesting, gritty.
Chris and Win set off on a cross-country bike trip after they graduate from high school. The book picks up with Chris starting his freshman year of college and being investigated by an FBI agent--because Win never came from the trip. The chapters alternate between recounting the summer trip (starting from their decision to try it through the end of the summer) and following Chris at college as he tries to figure out what happened to Win, how More...
Chris and Win set off on a cross-country bike trip after they graduate from high school. The book picks up with Chris starting his freshman year of college and being investigated by an FBI agent--because Win never came from the trip. The chapters alternate between recounting the summer trip (starting from their decision to try it through the end of the summer) and following Chris at college as he tries to figure out what happened to Win, how More...
Jun 19, 2011
Andy
rated it:
Not having read a review or the dust jacket, I dove right into this book. I saw it listed on a library teen list of some sort, it was available, and so I checked it out of my public library.
At first, I thought the main characters, Chris and Win, were girls with guy names. The way they talked and behaved did not seem guy-like to me, and I never shook that initial feeling for a majority of the book. It annoyed me but not enough that I wanted to put the book down. I like the idea of a pre More...
At first, I thought the main characters, Chris and Win, were girls with guy names. The way they talked and behaved did not seem guy-like to me, and I never shook that initial feeling for a majority of the book. It annoyed me but not enough that I wanted to put the book down. I like the idea of a pre More...
Jul 18, 2010
Sam
rated it:
I picked up Shift because it was in the new books section of my library, so I thought it would be a good current read. However, it came out in May of 2008 so it definitely wasn't as current as I thought.
Nonetheless, Shift was a great read! It was very short, but Chris's voice was so strong that it just kept me glued to the page. I would've read it all in one go had I not been interrupted by life (AKA work and The Sims 2). I think the books that catch me the most are ones with good vo More...
Nonetheless, Shift was a great read! It was very short, but Chris's voice was so strong that it just kept me glued to the page. I would've read it all in one go had I not been interrupted by life (AKA work and The Sims 2). I think the books that catch me the most are ones with good vo More...
Jul 06, 2009
Brenda
rated it:
Christopher and Win, short for Winston, are best friends who decide to do something truly epic after their senior year of high school. They embark on a cross-country bike trip, from their homes in West Virginia to Seattle. Almost at the end, a confrontation between the two friends split them apart and Chris is left on his own to dip his front tire in the Pacific ocean before returning home. He assumes Win will do the same thing shortly....but Win never returns and Chris's world is just about
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Oct 19, 2010
Randyaab
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May 17, 2010
Tabitha
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Mar 21, 2010
B
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Nov 21, 2011
Meghan
rated it:
Chris and Win, two graduating seniors, decide to take a cross-country biking trip during the summer before they go to college. Throughout the trip, Win's behavior seems to be changing, but Chris doesn't make anything of it because Win was always acting up. But Chris begins to worry when he finds thousands of dollars in Win's bag. Near the end of the trip, the two friends separate after an argument sparks. Chris returns home and moves away to college, thinking that Win did the same. Until an FBI
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May 26, 2010
Sandra
rated it:
After graduation Win and Chris start a cross-country bike ride from West Virginia to Seattle, Washington. The two friends have been riding bikes together forever so it just seemed natural to attempt this ride before they both go to different colleges. Along the way the two boys have a falling out and separate. Chris makes it back home but Win doesn’t.
When an FBI agent wants to interview Chris about Win’s disappearance and even suggests foul play, he begins to wander just what hap More...
When an FBI agent wants to interview Chris about Win’s disappearance and even suggests foul play, he begins to wander just what hap More...
Apr 13, 2011
Paisley
rated it:
This novel was a spur of the moment read for me. I saw it on the shelf at the library and thought it looked interesting. I was right. I enjoyed this novel due to the suspense and the fact that i secretly yearn to ride a bike across the country just like the characters in the book. I was interested the whole way through because it goes between telling the story of what is going on in the main characters life today, now that his friend is missing, and recounting the story of their journey across t
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