[alert variation=”alert-info”]Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, Kindle
Purchase: Powell’s | Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | iBooks[/alert]
Mike Klingenberg isn’t a popular kid at school; in fact, he doesn’t have any friends. When a new kid, Russian-born Tschick starts school, he realizes that Mike is anything but boring and soon befriends him. Soon he has convinced Mike that they should steal a car and go visit Tschick’s family in the country. They encounter a variety of characters, but their vacation ends in disaster after two accidents and an arrest for theft.
Why We Took the Car is a novel by author Wolfgang Herrndorf about the need to find acceptance and take risks during adolescence. The book successfully shows Mike’s loneliness and isolation from his classmates, which helps the reader understand why he latches on to Tschick’s friendship so fiercely. The book fails to make an emotional connection with the reader, however, and although it is told from Mike’s point of view it feels oddly disconnected from his feelings. The result is that the reader doesn’t care as much about Mike’s story as they could. Unfortunately this is a book that falls flat.
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