From the New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed coauthor of All American Boys and author of The Gospel of Winter comes a cool, contemplative spin on hot summer nights and the classic teen love story as two teens embark on a cross-country journey of the heart and soul.
The point of living is learning how to love.
Thatâs what Gpa says. To Hendrix and Corrina, both seventeen but otherwise alike only in their loneliness, that sounds like another line from a pop song that tries to promise kids that life doesnât actually suck. Okay, so: love. Sure.
The thing about Corrinaâher adoptive parents are suffocating, trying to mold her into someone acceptable, predictable, like them. Sheâs a musician, itching for any chance to escape, become the person she really wants to be. Whoever that is.
And Hendrix, heâs cool. Kind of a poet. But also kind of lost. His dad is dead and his mom is married to her job. Gpa is his only real family, but heâs fading fast from Alzheimerâs. Looking for any way to help the man who raised him, Hendrix has made Gpa an impossible promiseâthat heâll get him back east to the hill where he first kissed his wife, before his illness wipes away all memory of her.
One hot July night, Hendrix and Corrina decide to risk everything. They steal a car, spring Gpa from his assisted living facility, stuff Old Humper the dog into the back seat, and take off on a cross-country odyssey from LA to NY. With their parents, Gpaâs doctors, and the police all hot on their heels, Hendrix and Corrina set off to discover for themselves if what Gpa says is trueâthat the only stories that last are love stories.