Cruise Control by Terry Trueman

Trueman, Terry.  Cruise Control.   HarperTeen (October 25, 2005), 160 pages.

            A companion book to Terry Trueman’s Printz Awarded book, Stuck in Neutral, Cruise Control, is narrated by Paul McDaniel, brother to Shawn McDaniel.  While Paul is your classic high school Jock, a three sport athlete, and has pretty much everything he wants, his brother Shawn, is disabled in a completely vegetative state.  When his brother Shawn was born disabled, Paul’s father left the family leaving him with feelings of resentment and abandonment.  Throughout the book, Paul struggles with how to love his brother and balance his family life with his life at home.  Though he has many goals and hopes to go to a college somewhere far away, he feels tied to his family.  As the book progresses, Paul continues to learn more about himself, his brother Shawn, his relationship with his father, and how to live a happy life of achieving his dreams.

          

          This book deals with the struggles of coping with disabilities and a family life that appears to be hopeless.  In the process of trying to attain his dreams, Paul struggles with what “love” really means and how he can love his disabled brother.  His many struggles in life have caused Shawn to develop issues with anger management and he struggles to keep his feelings inside of him.  This book is written at a 6^th and 7^th grade level.  It contains some harsh language, violence, and alcohol references.  However, the chapters are short and quick to get through, always ending on an interesting note pushing the reader further.  The character development and struggles seem extremely real and the emotions of the book are conveyed really well.