The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart

Coyote Sunraise is a 12 year-old-girl who lives on a refurbished school bus with a man she calls Rodeo, but who is actually her father.  They have lived together, cruising aimlessly from one place to another since the death of Coyote's mother and two sisters in a car accident five years earlier.  At first it seems like an idylic lifestyle for the pre-teen, but all that starts to change when Coyote learns during a phone call from her grandmother that the park near the home where she lived before the accident was going to be torn down to make room for a freeway overpass.  Suddenly it is super important to Coyote to return to the home she hasn't seen since she was seven, but she knows it will be a definite "no go" for Rodeo who can't bring himself to face his terrible loss. Coyote comes up with a scheme to at least get Rodeo going in the right direction, and along the way they pick up one misfit passanger after another. As the strange group of fellow passangers start to feel like family, Coyote's longing for memories of her lost loved ones becomes an unstopable force that drives their impossible journey, but will it drive her and Rodeo apart?

This book got all kinds of good reviews when it came out.  The pre-teen voice of Coyote is delightful, and the portrayal of her and Rodeo's free-wheeling, hippy life style is appealing. Gemeinhart did a great job portraying Rodeo as a man who is trying hard to make a good life for his daughter, but is doing it from a place of utter brokenness. He also manages to mix in some pretty funny scenes to balance out what is often an emotionally heavy story.  The writing is good, and the wisdom is good and I am debating whether to give it a starred review.  The thing holding me back is that I didn't love it.  I wasn't ever eager to start listening to it again (even though the reader was excellent).  It felt too long and maybe a little tiny bit maudlin.  It might have just been the mood I was in this week. I think kids who really liked Wonder or Fish in a Tree would like this book.  (346 p. 2019)