First off you might like to grab a map. I'm in Australia so my knowledge of American states is fairly basic. Coyote and her father live in a bus. It's a converted school bus which they have named Yager. They don't have a destination. They just travel from place to place, across the US continent, occasionally picking up a traveler. Coyote believes she has to look after her dad. They are both suffering after the death of Coyote's mum and two sisters but this topic is banned and so while the pair are moving forward on their journey (they have been traveling for five years) they are not moving forward with their grief.
Each week Coyote makes a call to her Grandmother who lives back in their home town of Poplin Springs, Washington State. The news delivered by her Grandmother is a catastrophe for Coyote. Just before her mother and sisters were killed in a road accident the four of them buried a memory box in a local park. Coyote learns the park is being dug up to make way for a new intersection. Coyote is in Florida when she hears this news. Now she has to work out a way to get her father to drive 3,600 miles to Washington State and he cannot know why they need to go home.
Along the way, with Coyote desperately trying to make her dad hurry, they collect a few passengers. A new special friend for Coyote - a boy named Salvador, a musician named Lester, a cat called Ivan, Val, a teenager who is running away from home, a goat, Salvador's mum Esperanza Vega and her sister Concepcion.
I started this book on Sunday afternoon and finished it midday Monday. Yes it is that good - reading this book over the last 24 hours became my addiction.
Colby Sharp video review:
"A remarkable book"
"One of those books you're just on the edge of your seat."
"You'll find things that need to get done aren't getting done because you're choosing this book over ... doing the dishes or folding the laundry or watch Netflix"
"If you're in a reading rut and you're looking for a book that you'll just have to keep turning pages .. read this book!"
Dan Gemeinhart talks to Mr Shu about the book cover the writing of this book. Here is a teachers guide and set of discussion questions from the publisher. Here is an audio sample from Chapter One.
In an interview for Horn Book Dan Gemeinhart said he loved journey stories such as A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park (I adore this book); Bud not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (this book has scenes that will linger with me forever); and two other books I need to put on my to read list Under a Painted sky by Stacey Lee and Train I ride by Paul Mosier.
Click these review extracts to read more about the plot and characters.
It's a grand old journey across the United States in search of a pork chop sandwich with a gang who can name their favorite book, their favorite place and their favorite sandwich. It's a tale of pain and grief and choices and sharing and opportunity and Uno and a wise cat and all the richness of a life. A Book and a Hug
In this book, the author builds trust between the reader and the author. So much so that you can have a scene where two characters scream their secrets into the wind on the top of a moving school bus and it’ll feel real and earned rather than a sneaky plot device meant to further the characters’ emotional growth in the eyes of the reader. Elizabeth Bird School Library Journal
I would pair The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise with Savvy by Ingrid Law. I am putting US and UK covers. Look closely for the pink bus.
When you read The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise you will also want to read The One and Only Ivan (remember I told you the cat is called Ivan) and Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan.
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