by David Arnold
First published 2015
Mim Malone describes herself as a circus of neurons and electrons, with her heart as ringmaster and soul as trapeze artist. Her family has collapsed, and she finds herself relocated from northern Ohio to Mississippi, living in a medicated haze with her father and new stepmother. The dusty wastelands of her new home feel nothing like the life she knew. When news arrives that her mother back in Cleveland has fallen ill, Mim makes a desperate choice. She abandons her new existence and boards a northbound Greyhound bus, determined to reach her real home and real mother. The thousand mile journey introduces her to an eccentric group of fellow passengers, each carrying their own stories. But the road north delivers unexpected detours that force Mim to face her inner turmoil. She must examine what love and loyalty actually mean, and question the boundaries between sanity and madness. Her kaleidoscopic perspective transforms this cross country trip into a contemporary American odyssey that balances comedy with genuine emotional pain.
Genres: coming-of-age, contemporary, family-drama, road-trip
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Ohio, Mississippi, Cleveland
Period: 21st-century
352 pages · Hardcover · Viking Books for Young Readers
Content warnings: mental-illness