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A Novel
by J.A. Wright
Thirteen-year-old Evan Hanson is always the last in her family to know what's going on—at least, that's how it feels.
Her father, Gene, who's been meaner since he began serving in Vietnam, isn't around much, and she likes it better that way. But then her brother, Adam, gets drafted and her anti-war mother, Endura, takes him across the border to Canada, leaving Evan alone with Gene and her younger, special needs brother, Teddy.
When he realizes Endura isn't returning, Gene takes Evan and Teddy to Eat and Get Gas, his mother's café and gas station in Hoquiam, Washington. There, as well as her no-nonsense but loving grandma, Evan encounters Aunt Vivian, a teasing but caring know-it-all; Uncle Frankie, injured in Vietnam and suffering from PTSD; Paco, the draft dodger Frankie is hiding; Hal and Hubert, the strange but gentle next-door neighbors who play the piano like virtuosos and help out when they're needed; and Louanne, Frankie's reserved, sensitive sister. She is drawn in particular to Louanne, who was disfigured by a car accident that killed the rest of her and Frankie's family.
At Eat and Get Gas, Evan finds a new freedom, and she starts to carve out a place for herself by helping in the café and sorting mail for Uncle Frankie, who runs a postal route in addition to running the gas station. She eventually, too, learns some of the family secrets she's been kept in the dark about—and comes to understand that her mother isn't coming back any time soon.
Then, after reading a letter that wasn't meant for her, Evan discovers the biggest secret of all.
"Tender moments of genuine connection mix with hard truths in Eat and Get Gas, a poignant coming-of-age novel in which a teenager from a complicated family forges new, life-giving bonds." —Foreword Reviews
"J.A. Wright's second novel reprises her brilliance in creating the authentic voice of a young narrator who grips the reader in a story that is often painful but always mesmerizing ... . The writing is lean and penetrating, with enough depth to allow the reader to feel Evan's hopes and dreams along with the searing pain of a young girl taking command of her challenging life. Evan's resilience and emerging grace is a balm amidst the wounded world she comes from, and Eat and Get Gas is a welcome antidote to the unremitting pessimism of our time." —Barbara Stark-Nemon, author of award-winning author of Even in Darkness and Hard Cider
"J.A. Wright's uncanny ability to place the reader at the very center of 13-year-old Evan's head captured me, from page one. Evoking 1970's America and the long reach of the Vietnam War, Evan's confused, loyal, angry, lonely, and forgiving coming-of-age as she finds her place in the heart of a colorful cast of characters at 'Eat and Get Gas' kept me from sleep right up to the perfectly pitched ending." —Jenni Ogden, award-winning author of A Drop in the Ocean and Call My Name
This information about Eat and Get Gas was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
J.A. Wright was raised in the Pacific Northwest and moved to New Zealand in 1990. She is the founder and director of the World Buskers Festival (1994–2014), and the New Zealand Jazz and Blues Festival (1997–present). With more than thirty years in recovery from drug addiction, she's been crafting this novel for years.
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