American Road Trip by Patrick Flores-Scott is a heart wrenching and thought provoking story about family and the sacrifices we make for them. For Teodoro “T” Avila, life is finally starting to go his way. After meeting the girl of his dreams, he resolves to make an academic comeback in order to attend the same university as her. His best friend, Caleb, joins him as well, and despite some setbacks at first, they begin to make progress.

But life at home isn’t going as well. Ever since his older brother, Manny, left to join the army, his family has changed. Teodoro’s parents barely interact with each other and his sister, Xochitl, is barely home. But when they receive the news that Manny’s finally coming home, things start to look up. Teodoro’s parents start laughing with each other again, and Xochitl starts taking charge and fixing up their small home. When Manny comes home, everyone is overjoyed. But while at first he appears unchanged, slowly it becomes apparent that the war changed him. He snaps at people and barely leaves the house. Xochitl decides enough is enough and tricks Teodoro into accompanying her and Manny into a road trip across the country, visiting friends and family along the way with the hopes that it will help Manny. As the road trip unfolds, Teodoro will have to come to terms with the reality of just how much the war affected his brother and the lasting effects he still struggles to escape. The journey is messy, emotional, and heart breaking, making it all the more powerful.

Flores-Scott does an excellent job of showing how trauma doesn’t just affect the person who experienced it, but those around them. From Teodoro’s perspective we can see the importance of patience, responsibility, and the sacrifices we make for family. We see how Teodoro struggles to balance taking care of Manny and keeping up with his academics. This book may be emotionally heavy at times, but it still manages to include humor and hope. This is a book you’ll be thinking about long after the last page. 

4/5 Stars