A 100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith (2014)

Finn’s life is extraordinary, but in the most un-extraordinary way. When he was seven, a horse fell from the sky, killing his mom and leaving him with a scar that might mean aliens are coming, as well as some seizures. But he’s okay. His father is an acclaimed author, he has a loving step mom, and even a little half sister. Sure, in the small town he lives in almost nothing happens, but he’s got his best friend Cade, who is the life of the party. So there he is, on one of the last days of his junior year, when Julia walks in and compliments him on his socks. Then a few days later, after he leaves his house wide open during a seizure, Julia walks in, which leads to a night full of adventures in which Finn falls in love with Julia. Julia is different, she understands Finn, and goes along with his quirkiness. However, summer doesn’t last forever, and for Finn to stay connected to Julia, he must stay connected to himself first.

This was my second time reading 100 Sideways Miles, which I first read almost two years ago.  Honestly though, I almost didn’t remember anything, so it was like reading it for the first time. However, the main reason I read it was that I’m meeting Andrew Smith this October, and want to be able to talk about his books with a fresh mind. Now that I’ve not only read every Andrew Smith book, but re-read half of them, I can say the each one of his books is totally different from the next one. He has a writing style that is distinctly his, but also varies enough that his books don’t read the same.

One of my favorite aspects of Andrew Smith’s books is the characters. From all I’ve read, all of his main characters are guys, but as a girl, that’s never stopped me from connecting to the characters. I think the main reason is Smith lets his character’s wander from being the stereotypical tough guy. Instead, most of them are really open to their emotions, which I think will help break down gender stereotypes in the long run. Talking specifically about Finn, he was really honest with himself about what he was feeling, and I liked even more that he was open to talk about it. He wasn’t afraid to admit that he wasn’t comfortable with certain things, even if it was expected of him. I also liked the relationship he had with his dad, and that his dad returned the honesty that Finn gave. Lastly, I really enjoyed how he looked at life and the whole miles thing. Basically, he calculated that for every second, the earth moves twenty miles around the sun, and that those twenty miles have the chance to change everything.

However, I think Julia was a little under developed. I still don’t know a lot of things about her, and I feel that she was there just to create a romance. The romance was another thing that I didn’t really understand. Maybe it’s because I’ve never felt love at first sight, but the romance seemed to come really fast, and all of a sudden they were in love with each other.

In general, I really don’t think this book has a plot. It’s more like going through Finn’s life, which as I said before, is pretty extraordinary. That being said, nothing “huge” happens per se, but that doesn’t mean that this book isn’t important. Sometimes, a story just about a boy (or teenager) finding himself needs to be read, because odds are we’ve already gone through, are going through, or will go through a self-discovery period in our life.

I recommend to pick up this book when you’re feeling down or just not satisfied with how things are going. It’s a great comical read that delivers the truth about life.

4 STARS