Book Review: The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
Author: Dan Gemeinhart
Published: January 8, 2019
346 Pages
Reviewed By: Cristina
Book Description:
Five years. That’s how long Coyote and her dad, Rodeo, have lived on the road in an old school bus, crisscrossing the nation. It’s also how long ago Coyote lost her mom and two sisters in a car crash.
Coyote hasn’t been home in all that time, but when she learns the park in her old neighborhood is being demolished – the very same park where she, her mom, and her sisters buried a treasured memory box – she devises an elaborate plan to get her dad to drive 3,600 miles back to Washington state in four days…without him realizing it.
Along the way, they’ll pick up a strange crew of misfit travelers. Lester has a lady love to meet. Salvador and his mom are looking to start over. Val needs a safe place to be herself. And then there’s Gladys….
Over the course of thousands of miles, Coyote will learn that going home can sometimes be the hardest journey of all…but that with friends by her side, she just might be able to turn her “once upon a time” into a “happily ever after”.
Cristina’s Review:
How would you like to live in a refurbished school bus with your dad, traveling across the country wherever and whenever you feel like it? For Coyote, that’s been her life for the past five years. It’s got some good things about it–Coyote loves the time with her dad, and seeing new places, but she misses home, too. So when she finds out that a very special place in her hometown is due to be paved over for new construction, she hatches a plan to get her dad to take her the one place he’s sworn to never go: Home.
I am a fan of an epic road trip, so this book grabbed me pretty quickly. The relationship between Rodeo and Coyote is one where she is really watching out for and taking care of him. At twelve years of age, she has a maturity above most kids her age. Why is she the grown-up in this situation? Nope. That would be a spoiler, and I want you to read this book. I will say–I may have cried a little towards the end. But I also laughed quite a bit on the journey there. The introduction of Ivan the kitten to Rodeo is pretty great. And with writing like this: “Rodeo, crown prince of freaks, had never looked more freakish. That man is hopeless. He is wild and broken and reckless and beautiful and hanging on by a thread, but it’s a heckuva thread and he’s holding it tight with both hands and his heart.” Well, how could you not want to find out how their road trip ends? Get on the bus. You’ll love the ride!