The Lauras follows the journey of a mother a child across the US. Alex is 14 and not sure why they left home and Dad are traveling. Alex doesn't even know where they are going or when they might go home. It is a story about growing up, about the relationships we have with our parents as we begin to see that they had lives before us. The authors does a beautiful job with these topics and these characters. The topic of gender nonconformity is also handled with a naturalness that I found touching. Overall, I highly recommend.

I can appreciate how this book might appeal to some, but it wasn't for me. I found it very slow, andnitmuchvto keep my interest

I selected this book before realizing it's one I've looked into previously (another edition). My mistake and my apologies.

Although I thought the book started out well enough the child and mother running away from home, it wasn't long before I found the story offensive. I will not be completing the story.

This book was an interesting one. It's told from the point of view of young teen, Alex. Alex and mom are on the road and only Mom knows what the end goal is. During their trip Alex learns the stories of the Lauras that influenced Mom's life.

Thirteen-year-old Alex is dragged out of bed in the middle of the night and has no idea where Ma is headed...or why. What ensues is a roller coaster ride of the best kind--a coming-of-age story for both of them perhaps. Stories emerge from the family's past and the reader begins to understand the journey is an important rite of passage. While I was often anxious for their travels to be over, at the end I realized there is a catharsis for the reader as well. This novel will resonate with me for a long time!

Terrific read--nuanced and addictively compelling.

Great road trip/ coming if age story. Quirky and interesting characters make this a fun read.

I flew through this book. It was like sinking into something foreign but delicious.

There were a lot of dots not connected for me - a lot of why was this included and why wasn't this - but I loved it anyway.

Free copy from netgalley for an honest review.

The Lauras is the story of a mother and her child after they leave the father and take off on some charted but mysterious route across the U.S. as designed by the mother. Even as this trip is one of the mother's making, Alex finds that it becomes his/her journey as Alex grows up on the road, meeting a darker side of life, encountering hormones, adapting to a nomadic lifestyle.

This mother-child tale is entrancing and well-written. Told chronologically with insertions of Alex's mother's childhood, The Lauras manages to cover a time period of a couple of years without ever feeling rushed. It is an emotional tale that conveys the beauty of first love, the humiliation of puberty, the longing for an undefined sense of home. It also manages to interact with and embrace different forms of identity and sexuality with respect and without exploitation or menace.

The novel does deal with some potentially troubling topics including non consensual sexual situations, prostitution, and a nomadic sense of homelessness.

Thanks to the publisher for an advance digital copy in exchange for a fair review!