AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR "¢ Two teenagers, in love and insane, journey across the United States in this Bonnie and Clyde"“like adventure, pursuing a warped American dream, where Elvis is still king and the corn dog is the "backbone of this great country. "  "There is a typo on page 14. Other than that, this book is perfect. " "”Bill Callahan "He told her he was a one-woman man and she was it for him. Teal said that was good because he was it for her. It and It. Both of them were It. "  Kody Rawlee Green is stuck in juvie. Tella "Teal Cartwheels" Carticelli is packing her bags for Rome--on the orders of her parents, who want her as far from Kody as possible. But teenage love is too strong a force for the obstacles of reality. And the highway beckons. Leaving their abusive pasts behind them in Jersey, Kody and Teal set off on a cross-country road trip equal parts self-destruction and self-discovery, making their way, one stolen car at a time, toward bigger, wider, bluer skies. Along the road, of course, there"™s time to stop at Graceland, classic diners, a fairgrounds that smells of "pony shit and kettle corn," and time for run-ins with outsize personalities like the reincarnated Grand Canyon tour guide Dead Bob and the spurious Montana rancher Bill Gold. On their heels, all the while, is Teal"™s brother, Neil Carticelli, who"™s abandoned his post in the navy to rescue the sister he left behind. But does she really need saving? These all too American tropes find new expression in Bud Smith"™s own freewheeling prose"”and in Rae Buleri"™s original illustrations"”filling Teenager with humor, poetry, and a joy that"™s palpable in every unforgettable sentence. A VINTAGE ORIGINAL
