Greyhound

Steffan Piper
240 pages

Sebastien is a neglected 12-year-old boy, and his mother is about to marry for the third time.  His mother no longer feels like dealing with him, so she sends him alone on cross-country Greyhound bus trip to go live with his paternal grandparents.  Even in 1981, when this story takes place, this is considered risky and irresponsible.  However, Sebastien is not your ordinary 12-year-old.  Along the way he experiences several exciting and terrifying events and befriends an ex-con named Marcus.  The ex-con proves to be a better influence than Sebastien's parents and ensures that Sebastien reaches his destination in one piece.

Overall, I liked this book.  Sebastien seems to grow up in this book, even though the novel only spans three days.  Marcus teaches Sebastien a lot along the way.  However, there were some incredible parts in this novel.  I find it hard to believe that all of the shenanigans that take place in this novel would have happened to one person on a three-day bus trip.  That being said, this was a heartwarming story.