Twelve-year-old Jane Peeler is about to embark on a summer ritual: the family car trip. Along with her two younger brothers, Bill and Bernie, Jane will endure traffic jams, singalongs, and fights over who gets the window on a two-day car trip to New England. With help from her Walkman, it may not be too bad, even if her chain-smoking, grumpy grandmother is coming along. But during a stop at a gas station, the kids meet Marty – a kind, penniless old man with a problem. How will he get to his brother’s funeral in Schenectady the next day? Jane would like to help him out – but how? Bringing a friend along on holiday is one thing, but a total stranger?
Readers will delight in the hilarious detours the Peelers must make to get their newest passenger, and themselves, to their destination on time.
NOMINEE
| 2000 Silver Birch Award for Fiction
“A rollicking great read.” –Children’s Bookwatch
“There are moments…that are snort-out-loud funny.” –City Parent
“A hilarious account of a family’s car trip that captures the tradition, friction, and inevitable detours that accompany this annual summer ritual…At times the dialogue is so snappy that one senses there is a well-choreographed play just beneath the surface of the novel.” –Quill & Quire
RICHARD SCRIMGER is the award-winning author of twenty books for children and adults. His works have been translated into many languages and have been critically acclaimed around the world. His first children's novel, The Nose from Jupiter, won the 10th Annual Mr. Christie's Book Award. His novel From Charlie's Point of View was a CLA Honor Book and was chosen as one of the "Best of the Best" by the Chicago Public Library. Richard's latest, Viminy Crowe's Comic Book, was listed as a Top Shelf Honoree by VOYA magazine. His books Ink Me and The Wolf and Me are part of the Seven series with six other well-known authors.
View titles by Richard Scrimger
Tundra’s LINDA HENDRY has illustrated and/or written over fifty children’s books, including the Benny Bensky series. In 1986, she was short-listed for the Governor General’s Literary Award for her illustration of The Queen Who Stole the Sky. In 2001, her book Priscilla and Rosy, written by Sharon Jennings, received the Mr. Christie’s Silver Medal. Linda Hendry lives with her family near Rockwood, Ontario.
View titles by Linda Hendry
Twelve-year-old Jane Peeler is about to embark on a summer ritual: the family car trip. Along with her two younger brothers, Bill and Bernie, Jane will endure traffic jams, singalongs, and fights over who gets the window on a two-day car trip to New England. With help from her Walkman, it may not be too bad, even if her chain-smoking, grumpy grandmother is coming along. But during a stop at a gas station, the kids meet Marty – a kind, penniless old man with a problem. How will he get to his brother’s funeral in Schenectady the next day? Jane would like to help him out – but how? Bringing a friend along on holiday is one thing, but a total stranger?
Readers will delight in the hilarious detours the Peelers must make to get their newest passenger, and themselves, to their destination on time.
Awards
NOMINEE
| 2000 Silver Birch Award for Fiction
Reviews
“A rollicking great read.” –Children’s Bookwatch
“There are moments…that are snort-out-loud funny.” –City Parent
“A hilarious account of a family’s car trip that captures the tradition, friction, and inevitable detours that accompany this annual summer ritual…At times the dialogue is so snappy that one senses there is a well-choreographed play just beneath the surface of the novel.” –Quill & Quire
RICHARD SCRIMGER is the award-winning author of twenty books for children and adults. His works have been translated into many languages and have been critically acclaimed around the world. His first children's novel, The Nose from Jupiter, won the 10th Annual Mr. Christie's Book Award. His novel From Charlie's Point of View was a CLA Honor Book and was chosen as one of the "Best of the Best" by the Chicago Public Library. Richard's latest, Viminy Crowe's Comic Book, was listed as a Top Shelf Honoree by VOYA magazine. His books Ink Me and The Wolf and Me are part of the Seven series with six other well-known authors.
View titles by Richard Scrimger
Tundra’s LINDA HENDRY has illustrated and/or written over fifty children’s books, including the Benny Bensky series. In 1986, she was short-listed for the Governor General’s Literary Award for her illustration of The Queen Who Stole the Sky. In 2001, her book Priscilla and Rosy, written by Sharon Jennings, received the Mr. Christie’s Silver Medal. Linda Hendry lives with her family near Rockwood, Ontario.
View titles by Linda Hendry
