A wonderful middle grade title on the lengths we will go for our family, our loved ones, and the changes it can bring in us along the way. A great read for older middle grade and up.

This was a great book about finding who you are and where you fit into the world. I love that they have to figure out who they are along the path.

"Mari realises that having your mother die and your fifteen-year old sister kidnap you and drive you across the country is pretty bad. Reason enough to make you want to hide in a dog crate."

Well, there is more reason for Conor to hide in a dog crate – he's autistic, and it's a safe haven for him when things in his world as he sees it get shitty. Mari herself is an awkward character, in and out of foster care with this parent and that parent, and finally settled with her final mother, who has just upped and died of a heart-attack. Her current boyfriend wants nothing to do with the children, deeming them and care for them as much beneath him, so Mari has decided to 'borrow' her mother's Honda and limp it across from LA to near Boston.

Narratively, there's a great impetus to everything here – beyond the flashbacks it's all given the immediacy of present tense, and you're forever in the car with Mari and Conor. Beyond that, there's a deadline – the lad is a bit of a savant when it comes to space, and only the carrot of a total solar eclipse got him into the car in the first place. And what there is is a heck of a lot of heart-wrenching entertainment. A bit of me doesn't care if the author has got autism, or "questions of identity for young people in the foster care system", completely wrong, for the conviction storms off the page and everything feels really honest.

All in all, it's a book for young teens and older people alike, and it's a read that has not one but two really strong emotional peaks, meaning this really is quite the dazzler. Mari has a lot more agency than many a hero or heroine, and the only side of things I disliked about her arc was a very late bit of liberal justifying of her past behaviour, based on one of the story's recurring hooks. And Conor is never allowed to be a one-note simpleton; he is an expert reader of mental maps, has great recall of the eclipse's details, and just needs greater treatment from all the bigots turning their noses up at him, or hiding truths from him, or bad-mouthing him for being Mr A N Other. Oh, and he needs a much better diet.

Ultimately it's a book about being allowed to make mistakes, I think, with many guilty culprits across the quickly-moving chapters. I think the author's biggest is in his cheesy alt-pop lyrics that soundtrack the road trip, but in creating a story that had me rapt for the evening he made none.

Four and a half stars.

I like that Harley is looking at two different cases of being an outsider. We have a neurotypical teen unsure of her place in the world since she was adopted and her brother who has autism and is largely misunderstood by the world. Losing their mother, the only thing that was holding them together, puts them off kilter. The events of their road trip follow a fairly standard misadventure pattern, teaching them about other people and themselves. Solid characters with a strong connection to the setting.

Do not read.

I don't typically write reviews for 1 star books. I assume that there is a book for everyone. I may not like it, but someone else will. I only write reviews for 1 star books when I feel that the book itself will harm people.

This book harms autistic people.

Deeply.

As an autistic adult, as a mama to autistic kids, as a teacher to autistic students, I am asking you to please not read this book. Please do not recommend it to children who are looking for books about autistic or disabled characters. Please do not.

Throughout this story, Mari's descriptions of Connor reinforce every negative stereotype and misunderstanding that people have about autistic individuals. Mari and the author imply that Connor doesn't care if people are interested in things, that Connor doesn't have feelings about things, that stemming is bad and weird and should be stopped, that Connor doesn't have empathy, that Connor only cares about himself, on and on. I have at least 20 screenshots of scenes where the author chose to write about autism in a way that harms autistic people.

No one attempts to understand Connor. No one understands that he is sharing his joy and connecting with people through his love of eclipses. No one understands that stimming is fine, and actually refers to it as "disturbing to be around". They don't even really define stims appropriately. No one could possibly read this book and see autism as anything but "other". It dehumanizes Connor constantly. Constantly. His sister literally says that he would blow up the world if it was in a rule book. They talk about Connor "disappearing" when he turns 2, losing the brother and son they loved, which is some of the most anti-autism nonsense that exists out there.

It's disgusting, and I cannot believe that this is being published in 2021.

What you should read instead:
- Planet Earth Is Blue (By an autistic author)
- Someday Birds (By an autistic author)
- Can You See Me (Co-written by an autistic author)
- State of Grace (By an autistic author)

This is a story about a 15 year old, adopted girl and her autistic younger brother taking a forbidden road trip after the crisis of her mom's death.
I felt the emotions could have been more descriptive, and didn't draw me in, both in the girl and her brother. The book told what was being felt in one word, rather than delving deep and being patient enough to get your feelings worked up.
I also felt that it perpetuates a negative stereotype of autism. Many autistic children do have deep emotions, and deep personalities, and it's seen best by those who live with them. As a caregiver, you begin to notice tiny cues that let you know what they're feeling. But Mari seems to keep an outsider-view of her brother the entire book. For me, all of her emotions seem numbed by the simplicity of the text. She goes through rough stuff, but it rarely connected for me, bringing up my emotional response. Interesting storyline, but I had a hard time with the delivery.
Another point I feel it failed for me, is the fact that Mari goes so far as to break the law without the book acknowledging there may better option. I would be especially careful with impressionable readers, and try to be there to correct ideas such as 'the system never works and is always a bad thing' or 'If things are bad enough I should take things into on my own hands and things will be ok.'
Thanks NetGalley

Great book showing how well 15 year old Mari takes care of her brother, Conor,who has autism spectrum disorder, after their mom dies. When Mari realizes they can’t hang around with the mom’s awful boyfriend, she packs the car, grabs some money, and off they leave for Massachusetts where Gran is. The only way Mari could persuade space loving Conor to go is the fact the total eclipse is in a few days. On the way, they encounter many challenges and Mari wonders if they will make it.