WISH YOU WERE HERE

After the worst year of Ariel’s life, in which her father’s gambling compulsion costs Ariel both her college fund and her social standing at school, the last thing she wants to do is go on a road trip with her inescapably nerdy mother, her way-too-mature-for-13 sister and her mother’s relatives. Despite her protests, Ariel finds herself on a Leisure-Lee bus tour of America’s Heartland, where the only viable company is a boy her age who wants to be on the bus almost as little as she does. The bus tour takes her from diners to the world’s third-largest ball of yarn to the Mitchell, S.D., Corn Palace. While Ariel doesn’t bond with her mother and sister the way her mother wants her to, she finds an unexpected ally and running buddy in her grandfather. Throughout the trip, Ariel chronicles her adventure in witty, irreverent postcards to everyone from her cat to Mars, Incorporated. On the road, Ariel finds the courage and support that will finally allow her to confront her father about his harmful addiction. This lighthearted journey of self-discovery accompanied by a romance that can only be found by two people looking to make the best of a bad situation will entice fans of humor and chick-lit. (Fiction. YA)