Your next vacation could be the dream of a lifetime
Caribbean Life, February 21-27, 2020 39
Schlichenmeyer
It could take you to the
beach, park, or the mountains,
shopping or sightseeing, visiting
pals or hanging with family.
A vacation could get you
one city away, it can whisk you
halfway around the world or, as
in the new book “Clean Getaway”
by Nic Stone, a vacation
can take you where you don’t
want to be.
Eleven-year-old William
“Scoob” Lamar wondered when
everything went bad.
Was it after he got into a
fight at school, or after he was
wrongly accused of cheating?
Yeah, he was wrong there on
both counts but the bigger
issue was that his Dad wasn’t
acting like Dad lately, and he
went punishment-overboard.
Scoob was grounded.
Ugh, Scoob hated “lockdown.”
So when G’ma called
and asked if he wanted to take a
“little adventure,” he scribbled
a note, ditched his phone, and
jumped at the chance.
He loved G’ma. She was more
like a friend than a grandmother,
so when she said she sold
her house to buy an RV, a
“sweet ride” with all the plush,
Scoob was sad. Sold her house?
Okay, her decision. Scoob settled
in for a quick trip.
And then G’ma started talking.
Fifty-one years ago, at the
height of the Civil Rights
movement, Scoob’s G’ma and
G’pop wanted to take a trip
from Atlanta to Mexico, but
they didn’t get far. G’ma was
white and G’pop was black and
there were lots of places where
they weren’t welcome. Because
G’pop had died in prison and
never had a chance to travel,
G’ma, said she’d do the roadtrip
in his memory. It was her
“chance at redemption.”
But a lot of things were off.
As they tripped from Birmingham
to Meridian to Jackson to
Louisiana and Texas, Scoob was
pretty sure they’d dined-anddashed
more than once, and
stolen some gas. The license
plates on the RV kept changing
and G’ma was avoiding phone
calls. Then there was the “mistake”
at the jewelry store.
Scoob knew they were going
to Mexico… but what was
going on?
For a kid who loves to travel,
“Clean Getaway” is the book
to pack.
It’s got adventure in it, and
a surprising amount of history
and geography, so your child
will learn something. The story
flows nicely, author Nic Stone
doesn’t force the action or the
humor here, and her Scoob is
a character that’s relatable to
8-to-12-year-olds who’ll enjoy
watching him take on challenges
while he takes this trip.
For a kid, especially one spreading
his wings, that could be
role-model material.
And yet, not all is perfect.
The main irritation here — the
one that parents will want to
know about — is that bathroom
habits appear often in
this book. Too often, like, more
than twice and it’s absolutely
nose-wrinkling TMI.
Will your child notice that?
Probably so, but will she care?
Maybe not, if she’s enjoying
the book enough. The best
thing, perhaps, is to let him try
“Clean Getaway” and see where
it takes him.
“Clean Getaway” by Nic
Stone
c.2020, Crown Books
for Young Readers
$16.99 / $22.99
Canada 229 pages
By Terri
Book cover of “Clean Getaway” by Nic Stone.
For more
news
&
events
happening
now
visit
CaribbeanLifeNews.com
/CaribbeanLifeNews.com