Be Good Be Real Be Crazy

by Chelsey Philpot

"Homer, Mia, and Einstein are three aimless teenagers searching for meaning on an epic road trip up the East Coast--a journey that will take them to the most unexpected places"--

• ISBN10: 0062293745
• ISBN13: 9780062293749
• Publish Date: 11 October 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 272
• Language: English

Reviews

[ibeforem]

This was a cute teen romance that is, unusually, from the boy's perspective. Homer has fallen in love with Mia, the unusual girl who is living in a boat in the parking lot of his fathers' tourist gift shop. But Mia has bigger problems than where she's living -- she's pregnant and has no family. The only plan that makes sense to her is to head north to Massachusetts and find her favorite foster sister, who said she'd always give her a place to stay. But Homer can't let her make the trip alone, and after some cajoling his fathers agree to let him drive her -- as long as he takes along his little brother, Einstein. Einstein has a detour in mind after they drop Mia off -- he wants to ultimately end up at a conference about the end of the world.

And so begins a wacky, wild road trip, where they meet some unusual characters and things don't go exactly as planned. It's a fun, sad story, but it's definitely not realistic. The whole thing has almost a fairy tale feel to it, which is added to by the addition of "parables" throughout the story, which usually explain some bit of a character's or place's history. I'm not sure exactly how it would be categorized -- it's definitely not fantasy, and I don't think it's quite magical realism either. There's no magic, just things that wouldn't really happen. 

Regardless, I thought it was a cute story even if things don't end quite how anyone expected.

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
Okay so, this book is cute. Very cute, in fact. The characters were sweet, there are road trips, and along the way they meet other quirky individuals with little life lessons to teach them. Stuff like:

"Yes. Love. The greatest man-made disaster in a world that's full of them."

It's full of little snippets like that that are both wise and endearing. There was a lot of diversity, which was refreshing. And I genuinely liked Homer, Einstein, and Mia, even though we really don't get to know them in an in depth way at all. But, the bits of them we do get to know were likable. I also adored that there were little parables scattered throughout the book- small chapters telling stories that related to the rest of the book.

The real problem I had was that everything seemed unbelievable and farfetched. Like, aside from Homer's dads letting him take his little brother on a car trip 10 states away, a lot of the things that happened to them were kind of too over the top. It was fun, if you suspended belief, but if you're looking for realism, this isn't it.

Bottom Line: In all, it was a fun story, and charming characters and a quick pace made for an easy, if unrealistic feeling read.

*Copy provided by publisher for review
**Quote taken from uncorrected proof, subject to change