Boondocking

The characters in Tricia Bauer's wonderful novel make us laugh and break our hearts. Grandparents Sylvia and Clayton, with their grandaughter Rita in tow, set out in a travel trailer to avoid Rita's dangerous and unstable father. What follows is not simply a tale of suspence as the trio seems to always stay one step ahead of their pursuer, but a fable about growing up in modern-day America. Bauer's voice is strong and certain and the love she shows for her characters is always in evidence. Boondocking is a hard book to put down and one you wish could, like the trailer itself, just continue on and on.