Book cover of Detour Ahead

Book description

Every weekday morning, 12-year-old Gilah takes the same public bus to her school in Washington, DC, and this year, she's finally allowed to ride alone. On the very first day, the bus swerves too close to a bicyclist, and Gilah finds the courage to alert the driver to stop the…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Detour Ahead as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This touching novel is written in alternating voices of two pre-teens who become friends on a city bus in Washington, DC.

Gilah is preparing for her Bat Mitzvah and Guillermo is a Salvadoran-American who is adjusting to a new city. Gilah’s narrative is told in prose chapters with a thoughtful internal monologue sharing her struggles to interpret social cues as a neurodiverse adolescent.

Guillermo narrates in verse chapters beautifully capturing his own observations and challenges. This is a story of friendship, family, and learning to embrace yourself.  

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A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

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