Casey and Steven met in Morocco, moved to China then went all the way to Timbuktu. This illustrated travel memoir tells the story of their first... read full description
reviews
Dec 20, 2011
Latricia
rated it: 
I really loved this! This year has kinda been the year of non-fiction for me. I usually hate to read non-fiction, but this year the books have been so amazing that they surpass any disinterest I have in the subject.
Ok, so this particular non-fiction book had a leg up in that area since I am interested in traveling and life in other coutries. Casey and Steven work together to tell the story of thier time together in nine different countries the year after they graduate from college More...
Ok, so this particular non-fiction book had a leg up in that area since I am interested in traveling and life in other coutries. Casey and Steven work together to tell the story of thier time together in nine different countries the year after they graduate from college More...
Sep 26, 2011
Sinai
rated it: 
For a person who has never really traveled anywhere outside America...this was...ehhh. If I had been to the countries, and I knew some of the references they used, I probably would have been able to relate to it better. I'm sure I'd love to meet the two in real life, but I think I'd like them better as friends rather than a book/illustrator duo. I felt like it was everywhere and back. There were so many names and so many people and it took forever to read even though half of the book was pictur
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Aug 23, 2011
Andrew Shuping
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Casey and Steven were college students at opposite ends of the country, one in California and one in Maine. Yet, they happened to meet in Morocco during a study abroad trip. And they decided to keep in touch...and then they decided to move to China and teach English and then head out across the world together. Crazy where the world and life takes you huh? While traveling they fall in love with each other even more, find out about life and the world, and maybe make a few friends along the way (ev
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Apr 05, 2011
Diane
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Casey and Steven are a young couple on an adventure. They met while studying abroad in college in Morocco and have embarked on a trip that takes them from Brooklyn to Beijing to Mali to Timbuktu. Along the way they meet loads of interesting people and have the experience of a lifetime. This is their journal/memoir/scrapbook. It's funny, scary, exasperating and grandly illustrated by Steven's pencil sketches.
Their first stop to teach English in Beijing starts off a bit rough -- the More...
Their first stop to teach English in Beijing starts off a bit rough -- the More...
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Jun 18, 2011
Kelly
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I really enjoyed reading this, and the style of the book itself was refreshing. But there were draggy parts, and I'd have really liked to read Steven's point of view, too, at times. One of the things that really bothered me was how much there was privilege in what they were doing, and it was never addressed -- this bothered me in the beginning, and it bothered me moreso in the end when there was a lot of being depressed about being harassed for money.
I'm not sure why this is markete More...
I'm not sure why this is markete More...
Nov 06, 2011
Marsha
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Casey and Steen spent about a year or more traveling through different countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Casey had a grant from her college to study and write about these different cultures. Casey and Steven taught ESL in some of the countries, which also helped pay their way. I enjoyed reading about their adventures teaching in the schools and the children’s reactions to them. This young couple had a lot of spunk.
Sometimes Casey and Steven would argue, but for the mo More...
Sometimes Casey and Steven would argue, but for the mo More...
May 22, 2011
Erin
rated it:
I think this book is going to make me want to travel even worse but gotta love it!
I loved reading the author's travels. So many times I heard myself agreeing and relating to their feelings when traveling. I wish I had written this book about my experiences in Indonesia. It was wonderful.
I loved reading the author's travels. So many times I heard myself agreeing and relating to their feelings when traveling. I wish I had written this book about my experiences in Indonesia. It was wonderful.
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Nov 09, 2011
Shawn
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Although mostly an engaging travelogue, this is also a little bit graphic novel (I love Weinberg's illustrations), some coming of age (being 23 and just out of college is tough no matter where you are, let alone Mali), a little bit love story (new couple exploring each other with an international backdrop), some personal exploration, and a taste of American and other geopolitics - none of which is very deep (which happened to be fine by me). And Jon Scieszka, the hilarious children's author and
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Nov 05, 2011
Yoo Kyung
rated it:
One of the few books that tells authentic international and cultural experiences that can have us to think about global English education.. So real and reflectively portraying English language teachers experience in global communities. The relationship of CAsey and Steven makes thief journey engaging and real. Majority American readers will have better insights about living in foreign countries as English language teachers which are often nicknamed as linguistic prostitutions among the English e
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Oct 09, 2011
Meredith
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Mixed feelings about this one. The pictures are great (seriously, they are the best part of the book). At times, the story is exciting, hilarious, and inspiring. But it's too long, and the writing style is super disjointed and confusing (transition, Casey! Transition!). The people they meet after they leave China are so indistinct that I can never keep any of them straight. And, worst of all, Casey (and to a lesser extent Steven) comes off as super pretentious for a lot of the book. The other pr
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Sep 01, 2011
Lacey
rated it:
This book is basically a combination graphic novel/journal/travelogue/memoir of a new relationship. Any of those elements alone wouldn't have been enough to make me pick it up, but with all of them thrown together, I was too intrigued to resist.
Essentially, a couple who met when they studied abroad and maintained a very long-distance (separate coasts) relationship for a year decided to spend two years together traveling through Asia and Africa. They documented the experience through wr More...
Essentially, a couple who met when they studied abroad and maintained a very long-distance (separate coasts) relationship for a year decided to spend two years together traveling through Asia and Africa. They documented the experience through wr More...
Nov 22, 2010
Nick
rated it:
This review is based on an advance copy.
The blend of physical and personal journey narrative kept me riveted. I was mildly disappointed by the actual events in the Timbuktu section...I had been looking forward to that part for many pages, but that was, in fact, one of the less interesting parts of the book. The details in the sections on other parts of Africa, or their adventures as teachers in China, were so much richer that the Timbuktu section suffered by comparison.
Overall, the i More...
The blend of physical and personal journey narrative kept me riveted. I was mildly disappointed by the actual events in the Timbuktu section...I had been looking forward to that part for many pages, but that was, in fact, one of the less interesting parts of the book. The details in the sections on other parts of Africa, or their adventures as teachers in China, were so much richer that the Timbuktu section suffered by comparison.
Overall, the i More...
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Feb 05, 2012
Tracey
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The concept of this book is interesting - a young couple travel the world after college. She's a writer, he's an artist, and so that's how the book plays out. She narrates with words and he provides the illustrations. It's not a graphic novel, but it does have an image on every page.
That said, I didn't think the quality of either piece of the storytelling was compelling. I am not quite sure who the intended audience is because I don't see high school kids relating to the narrator's More...
That said, I didn't think the quality of either piece of the storytelling was compelling. I am not quite sure who the intended audience is because I don't see high school kids relating to the narrator's More...
Jun 28, 2011
elissa
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The first book of 2011 that I'm really excited about, both because I haven't read anything like it before, and also because of Scieszka's(Jon Scieszka's daughter) wry humor and frankness. Scieszka and her boyfriend spend time living and working in both China and Mali, and I felt like I really knew something about how that would be, both because of the writing and because of Weinberg's pictures. The 2 met in Morocco, while they were spending semesters there in college, spent a year apart (their
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Jun 03, 2011
Dina
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I'm not usually a nonfiction reader, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book about Casey and Steven's adventures in China and Africa. Steven's pictures are delightful including details that are like inside jokes. I also enjoyed Casey's ability to capsulize incidents so that they nearly always fit on a 2-page spread which made it very easy to dip into this book whenever I had a few minutes. She also has the ability to vividly describe the people they met and learned to love so that they seem very real
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May 19, 2011
Unwisely
rated it:
A fun, super-quick read. It's pretty much exactly what it says it is - a couple who meets on a study abroad, then sets out on this insane year of working and traveling. It once again brought me back to my old days, and made me wonder what it would have been like had I had someone else to do it with.
It was nice that she expressed her ambivalence about her role as well as the negativity (that I also felt!) when it was too hot to do anything. The illustrations are a nice touch, too. Pl More...
It was nice that she expressed her ambivalence about her role as well as the negativity (that I also felt!) when it was too hot to do anything. The illustrations are a nice touch, too. Pl More...
Sep 20, 2011
Gavin
rated it:
Quite enjoyed this: it was fun seeing these two people abroad and I liked how enthusiastic they were about almost everything (ok, except Timbuktu). There's a lot packed in here, travel, logistics, big life choices, and a whole lot of love, too. They're quite honest about how much they drove each other crazy and how hard it can be to come back and talk to the other person. It's an interesting hybrid book format and maybe even useful to college students interested in what it's like to go life in a
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Nov 10, 2011
Doug
rated it: 
I am having a huge problem with this book. It seems to be marketed to teens, and in the library where I got the book, it is clearly part of the teen collection. The Two main characters are out of college, and are spending a lot of time talking about grants and fullbright scholarships, and almost nothing that would have interested me when I was a teen. Heck, it hardly interests me now. The book is nearly five hundred pages so you can imagine...
The book features artwork by Ste More...
The book features artwork by Ste More...
Jul 21, 2011
Davida
rated it:
I couldn't decide whether to give this 3 or 4 stars. I was feeling generous, so I went with 4. It went on and on and on and on but was mostly interesting and enjoyable throughout. The concept of a couple writing a book together, words by her and pictures by him, was very cute and worked well. Overall, I found them to be sweet and good-hearted people with something to say but often nothing to say! And who wants to hear about that! And often they just struck me as young, spoiled brats...but
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Aug 30, 2011
Raina
rated it:
I totally dug this book. I agree with those who say that it might be marketed to the wrong audience, but that totally doesn't make it a bad book.
I love the way this plays with medium. Initially, I was bummed that it didn't follow the traditional graphic novel medium - no panels, speech bubbles, etc. But there is an illustration on every spread, and the illustrations definitely compliment the text.
Casey and Steven are a young couple who decide to live abroad for a yea More...
I love the way this plays with medium. Initially, I was bummed that it didn't follow the traditional graphic novel medium - no panels, speech bubbles, etc. But there is an illustration on every spread, and the illustrations definitely compliment the text.
Casey and Steven are a young couple who decide to live abroad for a yea More...
Mar 16, 2011
Tasha
rated it:
Travel, romance and finding oneself are what makes this book irresistible. Casey and Steven met in Morocco, had a long distance relationship across the US, and then moved together to China and eventually Mali. This book celebrates taking leaps of faith with one another, experiencing life to the fullest, embracing different cultures, and just being entirely human in the process. Come spend a year with an engaging couple who teach, write, draw, and inspire.
Scieszka’s writing is fran More...
Scieszka’s writing is fran More...
Jan 02, 2012
Debbie (Readerbuzz)
rated it:
Casey writes. Steven draws. Casey and Steven meet when they are in the fall of their junior year spending a year abroad in Morocco. Even when they return to their respective colleges for their final year in college, they continue to write and talk, and they finally decide to take a trip together after college.
This lovely book is the result, a picture book for grownups, a travel diary of time spent together as the two live and work together in nine countries of the world.
This lovely book is the result, a picture book for grownups, a travel diary of time spent together as the two live and work together in nine countries of the world.
Aug 24, 2011
Sandy
rated it:
Casey and Steven met in Morocco during their junior year in college. They started a relationship and after graduating tried to decide how they could spend their lives together. They settled on a plan to teach English in China for six months, then travel southeast Asia for a few months before moving to Mali when Casey is awarded a Fulbright Scholarship. The book follows their travails as they pursue this plan, peppered with artwork by Steven.
Apr 17, 2011
Mark
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This book is about two young college students who teach and do fellowships in China and Mali. In the middle, they travel to some other countries, too.
My best thing about this book was the part about Mali, specifically about how Malians communicate. It reminded me of my two little trips to the country. Bambara is great, and so is asking about your neighbors' chickens and how they're doing. Otherwise, this book was only OK. It kept going on and on. I did, however, appreciate the charcoal More...
My best thing about this book was the part about Mali, specifically about how Malians communicate. It reminded me of my two little trips to the country. Bambara is great, and so is asking about your neighbors' chickens and how they're doing. Otherwise, this book was only OK. It kept going on and on. I did, however, appreciate the charcoal More...
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Feb 12, 2012
Melissa
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This book was so much fun. A great look at other countries through the eyes of two young people hoping to make a difference in the world. They did what I would love to do, immerse themselves in another country in an attempt to better understand the culture. More than just a fun vacation, Casey and Steven really invested in the countries they visited. I don't think I could ever learn as many languages as they tried to, though.
Feb 16, 2012
Meredith
rated it:
This was a sweet, engaging story of two young folks setting out into the world. With writing by Scieszka and heavily illustrated by Weinberg...page-or-two-long pieces make for quick reading, honest emotions come through, infectious enthusiasm for making new friends and experiencing new things. I would hand this to any teen or young adult looking to work or study abroad or interested in travelling to these places.
Jun 16, 2011
Ashley
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After speaking with a lot of people who have taught English in Korea and Japan, I'm familiar with the experiences that they have and this book really captured that.
I think it offers teens a realistic look at what opportunities they may have while in college and after college. Especially when it comes to looking at working abroad.
I think it offers teens a realistic look at what opportunities they may have while in college and after college. Especially when it comes to looking at working abroad.
Apr 09, 2011
Ramarie
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A travelogue written by the daughter of Jon Scieszka and illustrated by her boyfriend, Steven. They travel together to China to teach English, visit several East Asian countries, study and live in Mali. It's heavily illustrated by Steven, and written as 1-3 page snapshots of their experiences. A leisurely read, but no less enjoyable for it.
allthewaytotimbuktu.com
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allthewaytotimbuktu.com
locallanguageliteracy.org
telephoneandsoup.com
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Jun 27, 2011
Lauren
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This could have been such an interesting story had it been written by someone else entirely... disjointed, frenetic, immature, and in need of a good editor. The writing style offended me a few times, and as some of the other reviewers mentioned, there was just this air of "privilege" that came across in the writing. I read the first third of the book and then just skimmed - couldn't really stand it anymore.
May 16, 2011
GraceAnne
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This is just delightful. Casey is so open, so stream -of-consciousness, so utterly in the moment and yet thoughtful, and Steven's pictures form an evocative and often amusing counterpoint and commentary. They were wonderful companions to share their journey, with each other and with readers.
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