This book seems like it is right up my alley. I grew up in northeast Mississippi (it really is mosquitoland to be honest), and my parents are divorced. I often felt like I wanted to just pack a bag and run off, just like Mim. This book seems like it will hit on a lot of memories for me, so I'll definitely be reading it. I went out and bought a copy already!

"Home is more than a storage unit for your life and its collections. It’s more than an address, or even the house you grew up in. People say home is where the heart is, but I think maybe home IS the heart. Not a place or a time, but an organ, pumping life into my life."

This is the story of Mary Iris Malone, and she is not okay. With her family crumbling, she embarks on a journey across several of the United States of America to meet her ailing mother. While that sounds rather morbid, this journey ends up being one hell of a road-trip, with several quirky characters along the way. But the best of them is our immensely likable heroine. Plus, I always find it fascinating when an author writes about a protagonist of the opposite sex in first person. .

I just somehow knew this book was going to be great from the moment I lay my good eye and one not-so-good eye on that cover.

I have a special love reserved for all things quirky. And now that I've read it, this was the right kind of quirky, the BEST kind. And the writing, oh the writing! The writing was SO goddamn fantastic, that it's hard to believe this was David Arnold's debut. Really looking forward to reading (hopefully) many more of his works.

I couldn't handle just a sneak so I ended up purchasing the entire book. Excellent contemporary YA.