Zane's Trace

By Allan Wolf

Book Overview

A coming-of-age road story with a supernatural twist -- and a compulsively readable poetic novel about identity and belonging. Zane Guesswind has just killed his grandfather, or so he believes. So he steals the 1969 Plymouth Barracuda his long-gone father left behind and takes off on a manic trip to his mother's grave to kill himself. Armed with a six-pack of Mountain Dew, a jumbo pack of Sharpies (for scribbling all over the dashboard), and a loaded gun in the trunk, he's headed to Zanesville, Ohio, with no rearview mirror and no more worries. On the way, he meets Libba, a young hitchhiker who shares his destination, and other mystic and mysterious characters. With each encounter, and every mile marker he passes, Zane gets farther from the life he knows -- but closer to figuring out who he really is.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0763628581
• ISBN13: 9780763628581
• Release Date: August 2007
• Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.9" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

Time trip as well as a road trip

I felt like I was riding in the front seat with Zane and Libba. An emotional journey for the reader as well as for Zane. Highly recommended.

Funny and Touching

High-Schooler Zane comes from an unconventional and tragedy-riddled family. After he becomes convinced that crossing out a picture of his grandfather actually caused him to die, Zane steals his dead father's Baracuda, determined to kill himself at his mother's grave in Zanesville, Ohio. There is a lot of drama in this book, and almost every character has a dark (verging on melodramatic) secret. What saves it from sinking into that genre is the appearance of several of Zane's most influential dead relatives (including a great great great great grandmother who saved a Fort and a Native American brave who tried to shoot her). In the end, Zane makes a tough decision, there are unexpected twists, and the author even includes background information on the historical characters of the novel. This is an excellent novel that teens and adults will really get into!