On the Road to Find Out

After Yale rejects her, Alice wallows, cheered only by the antics of Walter, her pet rat. Then she starts running, which results in meeting a cute guy (appropriately named Miles); getting a job; and finding her purpose again. Sincere, heartbreaking, and inspiring, Toor's novel celebrates running and runners--and also introduces readers to one very intelligent, very charming rat.

Teens may relate to Alice as she navigates college application stresses and takes her first awkward steps in a new activity. After a long period of Yale-rejection wallowing, running helps Alice build friendships, form a love interest, and gain a fresh outlook on her future. Rachel Toor, a writer at Running Times magazine, realistically portrays Alice’s learning curve. On her first run, she feels like “Nike—not the shoe company, but the winged goddess of victory” for one and a-half blocks. “After two blocks, everything started to hurt.” Characters are fully developed with memorable quirks. Alice is an expert on—and defender of—rats, especially since her beloved pet rat Walter is “pretty much [her] only reason for living” after her Yale rejection. Miles, Alice’s crush, is a race-winning runner who takes his grandmother’s sparkly leashed and camo-outfitted terrier on jogs through the neighborhood. Readers may pick up some running lingo (such as “PR,” ”splits,” and “hitting the wall”) and SAT terms (“equilibrated,” “pristine,” “neophobic”), since Alice loves using new vocabulary, often following up learned words with a succinct definition.