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Grade 9 Up -- Hannah and Zoe are smart and creative local teens in a wealthy New Jersey lake community. Unfortunately, neither girl has the same fun-filled, picturesque lifestyle typical of other teens in the area. Hannah looks after her two alcoholic parents and works hard selling hot dogs at the beach to save money for college. Zoe has bipolar disorder and struggles with manic and depressive periods. The teens share a strong bond of understanding and tolerance. Things begin to spiral out of control after the girls crash a party hosted by a student at a local private school. Zoe enters the depressive phase of her illness and faces an uncertain future. Hannah discovers her father drained her savings account for his own use. Then Zoe shifts from the depressive state into total mania and urges Hannah to travel with her on a cross-country car trip where, she says, they can escape, take risks, and discover themselves. The pace of the plot increases exponentially from there as the girls find themselves in a journey of increasingly wild experiences. The language is appropriate for high school students, and the cultural references to clothing styles and retail stores, music, (especially NJ native Bruce Springsteen), national landmarks, and television shows will resonate with teens who are struggling like Hannah and Zoe to manage life’s challenges. The characters are well developed and Hannah’s fluid narration keeps the pages turning until the novel’s complex and bittersweet conclusion.
