First published 2025
Sarah Kendzior watches democracy crumble while raising her children in Missouri. As a journalist covering political upheaval, she decides her kids must see America before it changes beyond recognition. Kendzior packs up her husband and children for repeated cross-country journeys. They drive Route 66, visit national parks, and explore historical landmarks while autocracy rises around them. The pandemic reshapes daily life as they travel. Political chaos and technological disruption transform the country they thought they knew. Through car windows, the family observes America's physical and social landscape shifting. Kendzior struggles between her love for the country and her fear for its future. She promises her children that America will survive for them, even as she questions whether she believes it herself. The road trips become both escape and education, showing her family the beautiful and bizarre places that make up their homeland during its most unstable period.
Genres: family-life, american, contemporary, non-fiction, 21st-century, journalism, current-affairs, americana
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, personal-journey
Setting: America, Missouri, Route 66
Period: 21st-century
309 pages · Kindle Edition · Flatiron Books