Night Driving - Softcover

Coy, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0805067086 ISBN 13: 9780805067088

Publisher: Square Fish, 2001

Synopsis

A warm-hearted portrait of a simple event that encapsulates the bond between a father and a son.

This warm and thoughtful story about a father and son on an all-night drive to the mountains is just right for Father's Day.

About this title

Review:

"Perfect bedtime beckoning for would-be roamers." --The Horn Book, starred review

"A series of hushed, starlit illustrations creates the imping sense that magic is just around the bend." --Kirkus Reviews, pointer

From the Author:

Background to writing the story NIGHT DRIVING
JOHN COY

As a boy, I took long car trips with my family each summer. My dad was a teacher and we would set off on a two or three week trip without knowing where we were going. In answer to our questions, my dad would say, "I think we'll go west this year." And off we would go, four kids and my mom and dad. My dad believed strongly in driving at night to get a good start. It was cooler then. There was less traffic and we'd have the road to ourselves. As the oldest child, I got to ride in the front seat much of the time and I was able to stay up as late as I wanted with my dad.

The two of us would talk while driving and we'd have conversations on these trips unlike the ones we had back home. Crossing the prairie by car takes hours and so my dad would tell me about United States history and baseball and his family and whatever else I asked about. One of my favorite treats was to stop in the middle of the night to get something to eat with him while the other family members slept.

On these trips we visited all parts of the country and as many states as we could. My dad would drive out of the way to nip off a corner of a state so we could add it to the list. In this way, we traveled to forty-nine states. One summer we drove from Wisconsin to Prince Rupert in British Columbia and took the ferry to Alaska. We returned to Prince Rupert and drove to Vancouver. From Vancouver we traveled the entire coast to Ensenada, Mexico. In San Diego my dad made a phone call to friends in upstate New York who said come visit. So we drove from San Diego to New York with my dad saying New York was on our way back to Wisconsin.

My memories of these trips are some of my most vivid from childhood, and form the basis for Night Driving. It's the first fiction I wrote as an adult and was begun in 1991 at a class at The Loft, a literary center in Minneapolis. I worked on the story for a year and a half before sending it to a publisher. For research I took two trips west to the mountains with m! y daughter, and in 1995 I took a road trip to the ocean with my dad and my daughter. When I was discussing the trip with my dad he asked what time I could leave. I said I had to work until 4:00. He said, "How about that first night if we do a little driving at night."

Welcome to Night Driving and I hope you enjoy the trip.

About this edition

• Publisher: Square Fish
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0805067086
• ISBN 13: 9780805067088
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: McCarty Peter