I
don’t think we’ve done any books for young adult readers, so I thought I’d throw out an idea for mom
and dad to suggest to the blossoming travel bug in your family. It’s fiction, meant for high schoolers, and it
does deal with issues like pot-smoking and sexual behavior, but we all know those things are bound to happen when
growing boys and girls go traveling, so better to read and discuss it as a family before they set off on their
globetrotting adventures, right?
Are We There Yet? by David Levithan is about two brothers tricked by their parents into vacationing together in
Italy as a sneaky way to see if they can learn to get along. Intriguing concept, huh? I’m suprised it
hasn’t been turned into a reality show yet…One brother is 23, the other 17 — they don’t get
along at home and the bond doesn’t begin to emerge as they travel either. Then they both fall for the same girl,
complicating things even further. Another interesting item to note is that as the brothers travel through Venice,
Florence and Rome, Levithan includes historical details about what remains of once-thriving Jewish communities in each
city, giving these two Jewish-American young adults more to think about their place in this world. It actually sounds
like it might be a good read. Have your teenager or twenty-something check it out and let us know.