by Amor Towles

Viking, 2021. 576 pages. Historical Fiction

In June, 1954, 18-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the juvenile work farm where he has just served 15 months for involuntary manslaughter. His mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett's intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother, Billy, and head to California where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm, nicknamed Duchess and Woolly, have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden's car. Together, they have hatched an altogether different plan for Emmett's future; one that will take them all on a fateful journey in the opposite direction—to New York City.

Fans of Towles' A Gentleman in Moscow might be surprised at what a different story Towles tells here.  Both books are beautifully written and thought-provoking, but The Lincoln Highway is a lot more fun.  Told from the perspectives of multiple characters, readers will fall in love with Emmett's frustrated determination, Billy's wide-eyed wonderment, Duchess' scheming, and Woolly's laidback personality. This book contains nods to classic travel narrative stories like that of The Odyssey and The Grapes of Wrath, and evokes Huckleberry Finn in the joy it takes in the journey.  This is one that's not to be missed.

This Tender Land

by William Kent Krueger

Atria Books, 2019. 450 pages. Historical Fiction

In 1930s Minnesota, Odie O’Banion is an orphan living at the Lincoln School, a horrible place where the students’ education is spotty and most of the students are Native Americans who have been forcibly separated from their parents. One fateful night Odie, his brother Albert, and their best friends Mose and Emmy steal away in a canoe, heading down the river to hide from the authorities and find a place they can call their own. As they travel, they run into other adrift souls, and they learn to find hope and family in the unlikeliest of places.

by Ivan Doig

Riverhead Books, 2015. 453 pages. Historical Fiction

Raised in the mid-1950s by his beloved grandmother in Montana's Two Medicine Country, orphaned Donal Kyle feels as if he's been tossed into cold water when Gram, recovering from surgery, sends him to live with her bossy and mean-spirited sister in Wisconsin. Aunt Kate is so put out with Kyle that she sends him back, to be placed in the custody of the authorities. Gratifyingly, though, Kate's harassed husband slips away to join him.

by Samuel Miller

Katherine Tegen Books, 2018, 465 pages, Young Adult Fiction

Arthur Louis Pullman the Third is losing his grip on reality. Stripped of his college scholarship, he has been sent away to live with his aunt and uncle. Then he discovers a journal written by his grandfather, a Salinger-esque author who went missing the last week of his life. Using the journal as a guide, Arthur embarks on a cross-country train ride to relive his grandfather's last week. His journey is complicated by a shaky alliance with a girl who has secrets of her own and by escalating run-ins with a dangerous fan base.

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