Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Auden, a teen who has just graduated from high school, loves to study. Really, I mean it. She always knows where she is with her books and classwork. This is unlike everything else in the world, like a social life and her family, especially after her parents divorced. She lives with her mother, a very serious professor who makes sure that Auden stays focused and driven as well.

However, her father and new, young stepmother live in a beach town with their new daughter, Thisbe. In a moment of almost panic, Auden leaves to spend the summer with them, where she attempts to find the childhood that she never had. She meets her first real girlfriends and a very intriguing boy. Will this lead to a new life for Auden? Or will she stay where she's safe?

This is another winner from Dessen. Although the bare bones of the plot sound like many of the other teen romances out there, the quality of the writing and the characterization sets it above the rest. Auden is, like most of Dessen's other heroines, for lack of another word, real. She seems like someone you would actually meet out in the world. This goes for the rest of the cast as well. Every character is well thought out. For example, Auden's parents aren't the most sympathetic characters, however, you want to love them because Auden wants to love them. Auden's new friends aren't just one note either. They all have backstories and traditions together.

Another very well done part of the book is the romance between Auden and Eli, who has problems of his own. They learn to know each other at night, as they are both insomniacs, while the rest of the world sleeps. One of the problems for me with many YA romances is that I can't understand why the characters are together. That is not true in this book. Dessen manages to write a very real chemistry between the two. And the problems that they have seem very understandable as well.

There are some minor problems in this book, however, I believe that it deserves an A. I would definitely recommend this to 14+ who are looking for something with great characters and solid plotting.