Riding Out the Storm

Building a story from the classic premise of two strangers meeting on a bus, Deans (Rainy) explores the conflicts of Zach, a troubled eighth-grader traveling from Maine to New Jersey to visit his institutionalized older brother, Derek. When he boards the Greyhound bus with his grandfather, Zach is angry, unable to forget how Derek’s mental illness took a toll on his family’s emotions and finances. But once on the road, Derek finds a welcome diversion in the teenage girl sitting beside him. Purple-haired, outspoken, and compassionate, she makes him laugh and “takes the edge off that awful feeling of Derek being gone.” The bond between them (Zach never actually gets her name, instead referring to her as Purplehead) intensifies as severe weather conditions threaten their safety, and it becomes Zach’s turn to help others. Part survival story, part romance, and part psychological study, this novel contains perhaps too many components to retain a clear focus, but it sends a pointed message about inadequate health care systems and stigmas concerning the mentally ill. Ages 12–up. Agent: Sally Brady. (Feb.)