Center Line

by Joyce Sweeney

Shawn, the eldest of the five motherless Cunnigan brothers, realizes they've each had enough abuse and decides it's time to leave their home in Ohio. Searching for a new way to live, the brothers take Mr. Cunnigan's car and head out, not knowing what may lie on the road ahead. Each of them knows that the law will be after them, but it is a chance they have to take. If the police catch them, Shawn may have to go to jail because of his age -- but even so, he knows he's done the right thing.

At first being on their own is full of adventure, but as time goes on, their small group begins to feel the pressures of survival and threatens to disintegrate. Their only hope is to keep driving along that center line until they find a haven somewhere.

Genres: Young Adult

246 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1985

About the author

Joyce Sweeney captured the attention of the YA book world when her novel Center Line was chosen as the winner of the first Delacorte Press Prize for an Outstanding First Young Adult Novel in 1984. Since that auspicious beginning she has continued to publish appealing novels for teens on a variety of topics, among them friendships, family relationships, and self-discovery. Four of those novels have been named Best Books for Young Adults, four have been Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, and Booklist included Players among its Top Ten Sports Books in 2002.

Reviews

[Sallie Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A young adult novel that I enjoyed, but I must admit I had to suspend disbelief a bit. This author has written at least 16 books in total and Center Line was her debut in 1984. It the story of five motherless boys in Ohio (Dayton, I think) who take off on their own because they are sick and tired of their drunken dad’s physical abuse. The oldest boy is headed to college (having just graduated) and he just feels he can’t leave his brothers home with that dad. He takes the $4K that’s been earmarked for his tuition and they plan to live on that and get job’s wherever they end up. The youngest brother is thirteen. So I guess you can see the reason for a state of disbelief.

This ends up being a “coming of age” of sorts, and they really did have some interesting adventures. I could see the appeal to high schoolers, especially anyone living in a family with an alcoholic parent. I’m sure there are a lot of American teenagers who could empathize.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book nearly twenty years ago and remember loving it, reading it a few times in my teens. The story of five brothers, motherless and abused by their alcoholic father, who run away from home and follow the centre line until they find somewhere they can call home, once eldest brother Shawn is old enough to take legal responsibility for the other four. Typical teen issues crop up along the way: drug addiction, first love, the angst of having to grow up too soon, and are all presented sympathetically by the author but with decent amounts of humour and pathos.

Having read my tatty copy again as an adult I was surprised at how I still drawn into the story, still felt for the characters and still managed to laugh out loud at some of their escapades. The thing that amazed me the most on this new reading is that Sweeney doesn't talk down to her readers as so many teen authors seem to. This is one of those books that was a favourite of my childhood and really stands the test of time.

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

my boss at work raved about how great this book was and recommended it to me. She also told me she’d read an ARC of it. fancy my surprise when the penny finally dropped and I realised this wasn’t a recently released novel at all but rather from the 1980s and that my boss has worked for our company for way too long.
I guess it’s a vote in this book’s favour that the thing that tipped me off to its age were the fact that four people fit in the back of a car, and that the book itself is only like 250 pages. The 1980s were an honest time.

[Arthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was on and off with this book and had to keep rereading parts, but then I finally put my mind to marathon it and finish it within a week. "Center Line" is about these brothers who leave home lead by their eldest brother, who is old enough and about to enter college. Growing up and seeing how things aren't changing at home with their drunkard, abusive father, they leave and use the eldest's college savings to get by. The setting is an earlier time before the Internet and when you could possibly get away with a lot more.

The story these boys go through and how their relationship between themselves and the rest of the world make it something that is hard to put down. Any person who loves a coming-of-age story that has adventure involved would love this book. This sort of thing can probably still happen in this day and age, Internet or no depending on how you carry yourself. It's a good read that romanticizes, but also emphasizes that you can make your own destiny.

[Seema M. Fazil · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 18%

As someone who loves to read about brothers and bromances, when I saw this book, I couldn't resist myself and started reading it right away on my e-reader.
Reading the first chapter, it turned out to be such a huge disappointment for me. It was very dragging, and I felt as though the author was offending religious people.

Mark was grinning. "Chris put a rosary in his suitcase," he said triumphantly.
"I did not!" Chris shouted.
"You did too. I saw you!"

"We think he prays, too," Mark said.
"I don't!" Chris shouted.
"You do," Rick said.

Chris is better than you, idiots!

Then, the sentence that made me cringe the most:

"...Just because we're all going to hell doesn't mean he has to go with us."

I was looking forward to read Free Fall by this author, but I'm not sure about it now.

[Selina Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great!

I really liked this book and enjoyed accompanying these five young men on their trip through several states on the east coast. The book was very well written with very well developed characters. What a trip these kids had(!) with all the things they had to face, not to mention some of the very lively characters they came in contact with. Actually, come to think of it, they were some pretty lively characters themselves!

Very plausible plot, I thought, at times quite humorous, sometimes sad, sometimes a little nerve racking due to some of the precarious situations these young men found themselves in. I wouldn’t mind a bit if the author felt inclined to write a sequel as I would really love to hear more about these kids.

A very fine book for teens and young adults (and old adults too, as I happen to be one!).

[Bridget LaMonica]

A friend gave me this book, as we like to exchange reading material and suggest new books to read. He knew I liked young adult books and so came along an old worn ex-high school library copy of Center Line by Joyce Sweeney.

The book was published 1984, so it follows the young adult fiction of the time. It challenges a young reader without going too in depth into trauma. It features a coming of age story with five brothers who run away from an abusive home to discover a life elsewhere. I thought we'd have some serious Outsiders vibes here, and although there was a tinge of that here, it wasn't the same.

As a coming of age, it basically hits the mark. This is solidly in the young adult category because it does contain adult themes -- some of the kids in the book have sex and party a bit. We have the theme of the abuse the children are running away from, as well as drug use by at least one of the brothers.

This was an easy book to read, but a bit of a slog in the beginning. Once I resolved to just read it straight through (if I put it down to try something else, it would have been lost in a shelf of other forgotten almost-interesting books) it was a fairly quick read. I just sort of had to get this book out of my system. I didn't always agree with the direction things were going.

If anything, I thought we'd be coming full circle to the title: Center Line. Was this a reference to kids needing to "toe the line" and stay out of trouble? Okay. But there's one small passage in the book that talks about the boys driving a long distance and the driver keeping that center line in check. I thought we were being set up for a car crash. One boy did all the driving, and it was a massive amount of driving at that. I expected him to fall asleep at the wheel and tragedy to ensue. Instead... we just eventually ended up in Florida. Make your jokes here.

It was an okay read. I find it hard to rate ones like this because it didn't stick out enough for me. I believe it was better at the time, when choices were limited, but today's young adult can be akin to a thriller film or fantasy extravaganza. This was almost quiet and meditative. We had moments of bliss like one brother playing music for money at a mall. We had moments of internal crisis between the boys and even a sickness that threatened to take one of them out. The plot of the book felt almost as aimless as these five young boys who hit the road with barely a destination in mind. It's not high action, but it's something to think about.

Oh and I think my mood was soured by a teenage boy's relationship with an adult art teacher. Yeah that might have been the thing that did it for me.

[Margie Schrauth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book for the first time back in high school. That was almost 35+ years ago. Loved the story. Wish I knew where my copy was so I could read it again. I love to read and after I read the book once I have a habit of putting myself as a character in the book, when I re-read any book later on

[Leslie Cernosek · Rating 3 out of 5]

When people say that current YA books are too mature,
I’m going to hand them this book from 1984. Joyce Sweeney’s The Dream Collector is one of my forever favorites from junior high that I can still re-read, so when I came across her first highly acclaimed YA novel, I read it in an afternoon. I feel like she may have been going for The Outsiders, but it fell short.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this random 80s YA book and it looked mildly interesting. It was ok. A story of 5 brothers who escape their abusive father by stealing his car and hitting the road. A little racy in parts for the intended audience, but a quick and entertaining read.

[Kate Larkindale · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this about 20 years ago and loved it. Been looking for a copy of my own ever since, so it was fantastic to find it in a pile of abandoned paperbacks at the back of a secondhand store. Just as good as I remembered it being.

Which is a nice change, given some of the re-reading of old favorites I've done recently!

[Amy Cohen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book at least twice when I was in junior high. I loved it so much and fell in love with the characters. I liked how it was about 5 teenage boys and how was told from the point of view of boys. At the time I felt that so much young adult fiction was focused on young women.

[Tiredartfriend · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absoloute favorite. My dad read this when he was younger, I found it in his book-box the other day, and fell completely in love with all the characters. This book has everything a great one should. 'Abraisive & Uncompromising'

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really liked this story, loved all the characters and read the book incredibly fast considering im a slow reader

[Pippii · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this as a teenager 30 years ago, and fell in love with it.
Found it on a shelf and re-read. Still love it.

[Thales Baruffi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoying reading about such a fraternal bond, I wish there was a sequel or an adaptation for tv or something, I'm just not finish with the Cunnigan's story.