"The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise" by Dan Gemienhart

"Five years. That's how long Coyote and her dad, Rodeo, have lived on the road in an old school bus, crisscrossing the nation. It's also how long ago Coyote lost her mom and two sisters in a car crash.

Coyote hasn’t been home in all that time, but when she learns the park in her old neighborhood is being demolished - the very same park where she, her mom, and her sisters buried a treasured memory box - she devises an elaborate plan to get her dad to drive 3,600 miles back to Washington state in four days...without him realizing it."

This Junior book for grade-schoolers was a fantastic read.  A heart-wrenching story of two people (a father and daughter) running away from tragedy but managing to find their way home and back to each other.  I finished this book with such a happy heart! Some favorite quotes from the story: "It's funny how sometimes when a face goes gentle, it ends up looking stronger somehow." "Sometimes trusting someone is about the scariest thing you can do.  But you know what?  It's a lot less scary than being all alone." "Because that's what love is.  Caring about what the other person cares about because you care about them.  And you want them to be happy. Right?" "I stumbled out of the ditch, holding that box with two hands and one heart." "There is so much happiness in the world.  There is so much sadness in the world.  There is just so *much* in the world."

'Rodeo' and 'Coyote Sunrise', names this father and daughter gave themselves, have distanced themselves from a family tragedy and for five years, have been travelling as far away as their renovated school bus can take them.  They travel where their whim takes them, rating diner food along the way, and meet and make friends with many people, some who even join them on their journey.  They seem close but there is a wide chasm between them that neither can talk about with the other.

Coyote and her mother and sisters buried a family memory box in a local park, just before a tragic accident took them from her.  She learned from her grandmother that contractors will be tearing up the park soon and Coyote hatches a plan to get her father to return to their hometown before the destruction-date so she can retrieve the precious memories of her mother and sisters.  The trick is she can't let her dad know they need to return home, or why. Family.  Grief.  Friendship.  Strength.  Adventure.  This book is both finding your way home and finding your way back to someone's heart.

Heidi Y.