The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise definitely lives up to its name. This book is quite remarkable. It tells the story of not just Coyote's journey but also, in a way, of the journeys all the people that she meets throughout this book. When the story begins, Coyote is living on a refurbished school bus with her father and her cat Ivan (named after the gorilla in The One and Only Ivan -the first of many shout outs to amazing kidlit) and they travel from place to place because going home is too painful. But then Coyote learns that the memory box she buried with her down dead mother and sisters is about to be dug up because the park where they buried it is going to be bulldozed and Coyote knows that she has to return to get the box. She also knows that her dad, who refuses to be called anything but Rodeo, will never agree to go back to the town they left behind. So Coyote starts scheming up a way to get Rodeo to point their bus back in the direction of the memory box, without Rodeo realizing what they're doing. Along the way, they meet a variety of people who help Coyote but who also need some help of their own and who all agree to do what they can to help Coyote get back to the memory box before the park is bulldozed.

Like I said before, I felt like this book was truly remarkable. I read most if it during trips to the gym and definitely had tears in my eyes throughout the majority of reading it -it's one of those crying in public type stories. All of the characters felt equally important and were likable, well-fleshed out characters. No one felt like they were just there to support Coyote's story -they all had stories, feelings, motivations of their own. It serves as a good reminder that the people we meet in life are living their own lives too, whether we know their stories or not. All the characters learn from one another and Coyote has a lot of her hard-held beliefs challenged by the people that she interacts with.

This is a story about grief and how to process it and I think it is a great novel for young readers who might be dealing with different kinds of grief. All sorts of issues are addressed in this story (grieving of the loss of a loved one, making decisions about what direction your future should take, dealing with an abusive family situation, struggling to come out to parents) and Coyote (and the readers) realize that sometimes the only thing you can really do is listen to someone when they tell you about the things they are experiencing. Several times throughout the book, Coyote is dealing with things or emotions that are painful and says simply "it hurt. And that was okay." And I think that's such an important lesson before people to learn at any age and an important thing we can tell to children: sometimes it hurts, and that's okay.

Ultimately this was a story about a father and a daughter and how the roles and dynamics can sometimes change. I think that there will be plenty of young readers who identify with the fact that, for so long, Coyote is a caregiver and protector for Rodeo. Coyote eventually learns how to put herself first and be the child again, which is another powerful and important lesson. This is the type of book where a character is on a crazy, somewhat hopeless quest, but you want that character to succeed no matter how helpless the odds. You want the characters to grow, to learn, to change, and to come together different but stronger than before.

I felt like this book was very powerful. One of the best books I have read this year, hands down. It is the story of growth and struggle and heartache and it tackles painful and difficult issues head-first and with unflinching reality. I enjoyed reading every word and it kinda made me want to take a remarkable journey of my own. Dan Gemeinhart creates an excellent, intelligent, compassionate, sympathetic heroine in Coyote and she has a very unique, entertaining, clever voice that fills the whole novel. This is definitely one I wouldn't mind revisiting again in the future! Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

Dan Gemeinhart does it again! ⁣
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This book should really come with tissues because it ripped my heart out and made me cry happy and sad tears throughout the entire book. ⁣
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Rodeo and Coyote are a father/daughter duo that live on the road in an old school bus called Yager. They have been roaming the US for five years - ever since a tragic accident that left them both devastated. ⁣
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They have not been home in five years and Rodeo refuses to go back to their home in Washington State but Coyote learns that she MUST go back when a beloved park is about to be torn down. In this park is a memory box that Coyote buried with her mom and sisters. Will she make it back? Will Rodeo and Coyote continuing grieving while cross crossing the United States in a bus? ⁣
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You will fall in love with Coyote and cry right along with her as you imagine going through the unimaginable like she is.⁣ ⁣
Don’t forget my warning about the tissues. And you might want to read it alone.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book. This book took about as many whiplash turns as the careening bus when the brakes went out. I do think it could have been shorter; some scenarios and conversations were repeated over and over again, and the book kept switching between heart-tugging and Keystone cops, especially toward the end. I felt like some of the emotional heft was dissipated by overly long description.

This book touched my heart. I loved Coyote & felt for her the more I got to know her. 
This is a great middle grade read about finding yourself & finding home again.

This book has found a place in my heart and won't be leaving any time soon. Dan Gemeinhart has an amazing knack for creating characters that are both strong and vulnerable, independent and dependent. With strong themes of family and friendship, this book focuses on running away from the past, running towards something more important than the past and how sometimes family becomes the people you meet on your journey.

​Interest Level: 3-6

Do you think it would be fun to have your house be a school bus that was gutted and turned into a home? You could go just about anywhere in the US whenever you want. Fun, right? Well, Coyote Sunrise didn't have a problem with it, at least not until everything changed. Coyote and her dad, Rodeo, have been traveling the country for five years, ever since the day her mom and two sisters were killed in a car wreck. Since then Ella has been called Coyote and her dad has been Rodeo. They live life on the road stopping at gas stations and truck stops all over America. Every Saturday Coyote calls her grandmother but everything changed when her grandmother told her that they were going to be bulldozing the playground next to their old house. Coyote knows that she has to get back home to a memory box that her, her mom, and her sisters buried five years earlier, just five days before their death. The problem is that going home is a no-go for Rodeo so she is going to have to trick him. She knows she only has a few days to get across the country so she has to rely on the help of strangers to help. Along the way they take on these people (and even a couple of animals) who need help themselves getting to where they need to go. Little do they all know that they would become a family on that bus and they will all do whatever it takes to get Coyote to that memory box on time. Can they overcome a broken brake line, someone being left behind at a gas station, Rodeo finding out the truth, and multiple police? Will Coyote be able to make it back to her home town of Poplin Springs in time to save her memory box? Will Rodeo and Coyote ever be the same again? Read this amazingly incredible story of family, friends, love, loss, and one incredible journey!

All I can say about this story is WOW! There are not many stories that will have you laughing and crying over and over again. I want so bad to be on that bus with this incredible group of people (and animals).  I wanted so bad to get some pom-poms and and cheer this group the whole way across the country. This is a Newbery Award winning book waiting to happen. Do! Not! Miss! This! Book!!!!!!!

Phew! I am a hot mess! I just finished this beautifully heartbreaking book.  I cried, ugly cried throughout. Coyote and her father are on a journey on a school bus. They pick up many people along the way.  Each character contributes greatly to the storyline.  As I sit here and write this review, I ponder what the theme was?  Family? Kindness? Family is what you make of it? A good books make you feel.  A great book has you gasping, laughing or crying out loud.  I shed many tears while reading this book.
I teach grade 3.  I think it is a little too mature for that grade but definitely for mature fourth graders and above.  Beautiful.  Beautiful.  Dan Gemeinhart hit it out of the park yet again.  Don’t miss this one.

Gemeinhart, Dan. The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise. Henry Holt, 2019.

Coyote and her father, Rodeo, are traveling the country in a school bus that has been redesigned inside to be a motor home. They don't talk about their past and they don't intend to return to their hometown. But when Coyote discovers that something precious to her is in danger of being destroyed, she schemes to get herself, the bus, and her father back home in time to save it. Along the way they pick up some passengers, including a young violinist, a teen runaway, and a blue-eyed goat.

This book was immensely readable and entertaining as well as heartwarming. Coyote's love of reading is apparent throughout the story, so readers will walk away with a decent list of books to read next. The story does read a bit like a fairy tale or an after school special in that everything wraps up neatly at the end, but this is not a negative factor for middle grade or tween literature at all. 

Recommended for: tweens
Red Flags: None
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

Read-Alikes: This Would Make a Great Story Someday,  The Someday Birds, Ashes to Asheville

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley for the purpose of review.

Loved this book of loss and hope and the idea that with support, you can go home again. The love between father and daughter was apparent throughout and I loved meeting the cast of characters on their journey. This book tugged at my heart and will stay with me a long time. I will be buying this book and sharing it with my 5th graders.

I fell in love with Coyote from page one. This story sucked me in and I did not want to put this book down.  Character after character, I loved them all.  What a great middle grade story!  Dan Gemeinhart's books are all huge hits in my elementary library and this one is sure to be as well.