Clean Getaway by Nic Stone.
Crown Books for Young Readers, Random House Childrens, Penguin, New York, 2020.
MG fiction, 227 pages.
Lexile: 780L .
AR Level: not leveled
When William’s grandmother proposes a little trip, he’s all too happy about the loophole in his strict father’s grounding. But as they get further and further from home, and G’ma is acting stranger and stranger, he begins to believe that there is more to this unexpected road trip than he realized.
I hovered over this book a while, confused about the premise, because this doesn’t easily conform to a synopsis. So much happens without ever feeling overwhelming. The main characters are elderly white G’ma and William, who’s Black, eleven, and on spring break. Normally his father would take him on vacation, but some trouble at school led to the trip being cancelled and him grounded. It’s also been part of a larger miscommunication with his father.