For the first time, all Auden wanted was a carefree summer, a chance to be a normal teenager before embarking on a new chapter in her life: college.

The child of divorced parents, she has spent many sleepless nights listening to her parents fight about their marriage. She decides to spend the summer before college with her dad and his new family at their home in a tiny beach town.

When Auden arrives she is thrust into working at a clothing boutique, where she gets a crash course all about girls. These lessons remind her of what she missed while she was trying to be the “perfect daughter” in the eyes of her mother, who didn’t exhibit role-model behavior when her daughter was around.

To balance out the lessons in femininity, Eli, a fellow insomniac and bit of a loner, catches Auden’s attention and shows her the other side to the beach town that she never knew existed. A chain of events causes Auden and Eli to open up to each other about things they never previously talked about, opening both of their eyes to the opportunities before them.

Sarah Dessen’s ‘Along for the Ride’ allows readers to be transported into Auden’s life, experiencing the ultimate summer before going to college and meeting someone who changes Auden’s life in more ways than one. By living through Auden, readers can also recollect a life-changing summer they never forgot and will always remember.