The book, The Car, is written by Gary Paulsen. It’s about fourteen year old Terry, who embarks on a journey to see an uncle he can barely remember after having both his parents leave without telling the other, and after his only friend moves to Africa. He builds a car, packs up all the things he thinks he will need, and heads out. Throughout his journey, he meets a man named Waylon who is all about learning and who has lived by hitchhiking and trucking and knows everything that there is to know about being on the road. He also meets Waylon’s friend named Wayne who makes Terry’s car better and joins them on the journey to get to his uncle.

I think the theme of this book is to keep going no matter what happens. Terry is faced with many challenges that most normal fourteen year olds couldn’t get through, like having both of his parents hardly even care about him, and hate each other, then both walk out on him. And having his only friend move away. However through all of this, he keeps going and he learns a lot from his new friends, Waylon and Wayne.

One big reason that this book was appealing to me was that it kept my attention because it is exciting, and informational. There were very few if not any parts that I thought to myself that this book is boring. I did however feel this book could’ve used a little more adventure. Although it is fun to experience “trucking” in my head, it would’ve been nice to also imagine things other than driving on a road, and stopping to sleep repeatedly.

I did like the characters in this book. They all had different personalities. Terry, for example was more quiet than Waylon or Wayne. “Terry sat down and was silent for the rest of the ride.” Waylon was very mysterious. “While Terry liked Waylon, he didn’t quite understand him.” You never really know what he was thinking. Wayne was kind of the same as Waylon, but he was more open, and more of hillbilly type of person.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was a good mix of information, and adventure. I would probably recommend this book to someone who asked me if there are any good books I’ve read. It is not my favorite book, but it is up there. Gary Paulsen has written many books that are popular like The Hatchet, Tracker, Woods Runner, etc. In total, he has written well over 100 books. If The Car interests you at all, don’t just take my word for it, read it yourself and see if it is for you. If you like it, great! If not, no harm done.