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Editorial Review:
1974 was a tough year for a lot of people. There was Watergate, Vietnam, an oil crisis, growing unemployment, and a gas shortage. It seemed our world was coming to an end. One evening, our local TV news anchor speculated on its truth as he informed us of a bum who walked the streets with a sign, “The End is Near.” All of this craziness must have hit my dad pretty hard as well – or at least his common sense – because my nearly 40-year-old father decided to take 5 teenage boys on a road trip to Alaska that summer in spite of everything that was going on.
While “To Alaska or Bust” may appear at first to be a first-rate coming-of-age story of a young man's adventures on a road trip with his siblings, cousin, and his dad, this book goes beyond being just a good story for a young adult. This is jam-packed full of memories which will resonate with many an adult reader who lived through the turbulent times of the 1970s. Ms Wagner gives the reader an extraordinary view of life on a road trip and the shared experiences of a gaggle of hormonal boys – all the jokes, and back-seat fights, the farts and burps, the flirting with girls along with way – along with the nostalgic memories of camping in a canvas tent, the whir of the zipper, eating beef stew from a can, cooking pancakes over a campfire, the sticky vinyl seats in a old station wagon, finding a cheap rabbit's foot souvenir in an obscure little town, the small towns dotted along the highway, and the smell of the air whipping through the half-lowered windows.
We were so far from home. I looked up at the clouds and wondered if they stretched all the way to my mother in Oakland. I missed home for a moment – rows and rows of houses with junk in their yards, my friends and the crazy-fun things we would do that got us into trouble. I wondered what my friends were doing at that moment. I was sure they were either mowing lawns, walking other people's pets, babysitting, or getting in trouble. They would be home blowing their newly acquired money on records, junk food or maybe even girls. For sure, the troublemakers on our street would have been put on restriction from their phone or friends, or been put to work doing extra chores for their well-deserved punishment. Fora moment, I wished I were there to know what was happening.
Ms Wagner's tale really delivers in this narrative, which speaks more like a memoir than a true historical novel, which by no means takes away from this excellent tale which is rife with descriptive passages and life lessons beneficial for any age.
My emotions were mixed. Archie drove the first 6 hours of that last leg. The car remained quiet except when we went through populated towns and Dad tuned on the radio to listen to music or news. The radio informed us that while we were away, life continued on. Gerald Ford took the place of Richard Nixon and began his career as 38th President of the United States; Nolan Ryan struck out 19 and walked 2 as the Angels topped the Red Sox 4-2; nuclear tests were performed by the US, France, and USSR.
Robert Johnson, a young teenage boy, is excited to spend the summer doing the regular things most boys in Oakland California do during the summer, except this year his father shocks him and his brother's with the news that he is taking them on a road trip to Anchorage Alaska, stopping along the way in various campsites, going through Yellowstone, and up through Canada on this trek. Adventure awaits them at every turn, such as making friends with a couple of girls at one of the campsites, or telling ghost stories at night around the fire, or finding a girlie magazine stuffed beneath one of the car seats, or losing their tent off the top of the car, … or even being chased out of a small town in Alaska after his dad goes on a bender at the local bar. With a flavor of “The Outsiders” by S. E. Hinton, the characters are very well developed as is the storyline, lending to a very enjoyable and memorable read. As a young adult historical novel, this is an easy read and highly recommended.
Driving Highway 97 was like taking a journey through the untamed wilderness. This stretch of highway, was more about beauty and nature and less about farms, towns, or people. The mountains were big and sometimes, from the highway, we could see whole valleys with towns or rivers then more mountains behind them. I imagined this is the kind of work God created first when it came to carving out the land.
I thought about how the choices we make can be like the flip of a coin, heads or tails, windfall or misfortune, destination or deflection. I know now that decisions we make can affect more people than we imagine. I put the wooden coin back in the sock.
*****
“To Alaska or Bust” by Linda Wagner receives five stars from The Historical Fiction Company and the “Highly Recommended” award of excellence.
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