Joyride
Anna Banks
Joyride is a great story that keeps you on the edge of your seat, with a huge plot twist that you would never expect. Carly’s parents have been deported, so she and her brother are trying to bring them back home. But when she suddenly meets a boy in an unexpected and unusual situation, Carly begins to fall for him. The story is told through the alternating perspectives of Arden, Carly’s crush, and Carly who is trying to balance the responsibilities of her demanding life while dealing with her new feelings about Arden. Lies between them build and when they are revealed their relationship begins to shatter.
An action-packed book, Joyride is exactly like the title states: a joyride among the most unlikely friends, with silly pranks that will make you laugh heartily with Carly and Arden learning how to enjoy life. Carly is torn between the life she is told to live and the chance the cute boy is giving her to live and have fun. She is trying to find a balance between the two worlds but sometimes there isn’t a middle ground to be found. There is also a strange mysterious man who is helping to bring back her parents and family from Mexico. There are unexpected twists as you figure out who is really the bad guy and who Carly’s real friends are.
I would recommend this book because of the unpredictable plot twist and enjoyable pranks throughout. Joyride shows teens trying to rebel through mostly harmless crimes and gags, but is also about a harder more rugged way of life that shows some people’s reality. – Zoe P.