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Driving the Bugmobile

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Sometimes a pool noodle is just a pool noodle. Other times…

In two short weeks, Nick Carlin will be old enough to get his driver’s license, but there’s a catch—a huge one. His mom says he must first pass a swimming test, and Nick takes to the water as well as a flying fish pilots a jumbo jet. It’s one more challenge as the Summer From Hell comes to an August crescendo: his slacker friend Miller is worried about “failing life,” and the older girl Nick’s crushing on—his robo-hottie swimming instructor—is leaving for college. But the cherry on top of the stress sundae? His mom’s low-life moocher boyfriend has just moved in, and Nick is supposed to be happy about it!

As Nick struggles to get his life in shape (and master the freestyle), he learns that the best solutions aren’t always the easiest ones. If he wants to relieve his friend’s anxiety, shield his mom from heartache, find happiness with the right girl (hint: not the robo-hottie), and score the keys to the Bugmobile, he’ll have to step up his game, big-time.

Praise

“Take a ride with Alan Orloff’s Driving the Bugmobile, a winning coming-of-age novel about Nick Carlin, who’s navigating the bumps in the road through his teen years. From first crushes, to new sketchy possible stepfathers, to dealing with the loss of a parent, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, but you won’t be able to put it down until its stellar characters reach the end of their journeys!”
—Lee Matthew Goldberg, acclaimed author of The Mentor and The Great Gimmelmans

“Driving the Bugmobile is an emotional coming-of-age story that highlights the pain of growing up and not knowing if the person you’re becoming is who you want to be, and deciding who deserves to come along for the ride. I absolutely loved it!”
—Melanie Hooyenga, author of the YA psychological suspense The Quiet Unraveling of Eve Ellaway

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