Winner of the German Teen Literature Prize, this is a hugely entertaining hair-raising and tender story of two boys on the road trip of a lifetime. Mike tells the story of the summer that changes his life. With a reputation as the dullest boy in the class his life is changed when new boy Tschick arrives. Tschick doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him; his clothes are scruffy and he frequently arrives smelling of alcohol and clearly drunk. When Tschick turns up in a car in the empty summer holiday and dares Mike to join him Mike throws caution to the wind and steps right in. Underage for driving and with no map and no plan the boys have an extraordinary – and illegal - journey during which they meet some surprising people and some very tricky situations before returning home almost safely and very much changed.
Mike doesn't get why people think he's boring. Sure, he doesn't have many friends. (OK, zero friends.) And everyone laughs at him when he reads his essays out loud in class. And he's never invited to parties. But one day Tschick, the odd new boy at school, shows up at Mike's house out of the blue. He dares him to go on a road trip with him. No parents, no map, no destination. Will they get hopelessly lost in the middle of nowhere? Probably. Will they meet crazy people and get into serious trouble? Definitely. But will they ever be called boring again? Not a chance.
You will see the world with different eyes after reading this novel Rolling Stone
Alternately wild, sad, hilarious, and tender Publisher's Weekly, starred review
Full of laughs and incredibly moving Sueddeutsche Zeitung
A novel with just one flaw: it's over too soon Deutschlandradio
Sits squarely and triumphantly at the intersection of literary tall tale and coming-of-age picaresque Kirkus, starred review
Author
About Wolfgang Herrndorf
Wolfgang Herrndorf (1965-2013) was born in Hamburg, Germany and studied painting before turning to writing later in his career. He wrote several award-winning novels for adults, and Why we Took the Car is his first book to be published in the UK.
