The Trail Journey of J.D. and the Princess

J.D., aka the Juvenile Delinquent, is fifteen year old Collin Talley, a restless truant and runaway from Nebraska. Apathetic about life until a teacher gives him a book about an Appalachian Trail thru-hiker, Collin is inspired to take part in the life changing undertaking of hiking the 2,180 mile long footpath. Fleeing from an unhappy existence and a close call with the law, Collin hitchhikes east to hike the Appalachian Trail.

The Princess is sixteen year old Brooke Setree, the out of control, self-absorbed daughter of the wealthy Senator and Presidential Candidate John Gordon Setree. For Brooke, it’s all about money, parties, and Brooke.

Before Collin can step one foot on the trail, fate brings the two teens together on a road in Pennsylvania. While out joyriding on her birthday, Brooke strikes Collin with her car and leaves the scene, but it is all recorded by the media and paparazzi who constantly follow Brooke.

Recovering in the medical ward of a juvenile detention facility, Collin learns who hit him. As the media frenzy builds, both Brooke and Collin soon stand before a judge who sees Collin as a young man who doesn’t care about school or rules and Brooke as a young lady who doesn’t care about anything or anybody. Known for using his creative sentencing with delinquent teens, the judge announces his verdict: they must spend time together while hiking the rugged and rocky Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania.

Hiking the trail was what Collin wanted, but not at this midway point of the trail and definitely not with a Spoiled Little Princess and her ceaseless arrogance. Having to give up her smartphone and stuck with a Juvenile Delinquent out in the wilderness far from any comfort or luxury was a nightmare far worse than anything Brooke could ever have imagined. But together they must start the trail at Pen Mar Park on the Maryland state line and together they must finish it at the Delaware Water Gap in New Jersey 230 long trail miles away.

They are as different as two teenagers can be. The only thing they have in common is that they hate each other. But things have a way of changing when they share the trail together.

Rita Floriani, a life-long resident of Pennsylvania, has written over 200 hiking articles for her “Out on the Trail” column with the Reading Eagle. She has led book discussions on hiking and outdoor adventures and has given over a dozen talks and presentations on hiking. At one time she was a member of twenty hiking clubs and outdoor organizations. Her favorite trail is the Appalachian Trail and she has hiked sections of it in 9 out of the 14 states through which it runs, including everything from the Shenandoah River in Harpers Ferry, WV to just east of the Hudson River in New York. Being a resident of Pennsylvania, she has hiked many of that state’s Appalachian Trail miles over and over again. In her novel, “The Trail Journey of J.D. and the Princess” she blends fact with fiction, mentioning as accurately as possible everything about the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania, from the mileage, to every shelter and river crossing, to the views from mountaintop lookouts, and of course the rocks. She feels fortunate to have met hundreds of Appalachian Trail thru-hikers from the United States and around the world.