The Way Back to You: A Witty and Heartbreaking Young Adult Road Trip Novel About Organ Donation

For fans of Jenny Han and Morgan Matson, a witty, poignant novel about second chances, letting go, and the unbreakable bonds of friendship.

Six months ago, Ashlyn Montiel died in a bike accident. Her best friend, Cloudy, is keeping it together, at least on the outside. Cloudy’s insides are a different story: tangled, confused, heartbroken.

Kyle is falling apart, and everyone can tell. Ashlyn was his girlfriend, and when she died, a part of him went with her. Maybe the only part he cares about anymore.

As the two people who loved Ashlyn best, Cloudy and Kyle should be able to lean on each other. But after a terrible mistake last year, they’re barely speaking. So when Cloudy discovers that Ashlyn’s organs were donated after her death and the Montiel family has been in touch with three of the recipients, she does something a little bit crazy and a lot out of character: she steals the letters and convinces Kyle to go on a winter break road trip with her, from Oregon to California to Arizona to Nevada. Maybe if they see the recipients―the people whose lives were saved by Ashlyn’s death―the world will open up again.

Or maybe it will be a huge mistake.

• A Second Chance Romance: He was her best friend’s boyfriend. She was the one who pushed him away. Now, they’re trapped in a car together, and their shared grief for Ashlyn might be the only thing that can bring them back to each other.
• An Emotional Healing Journey: Cloudy’s plan is crazy: find the strangers who received Ashlyn’s organs. She hopes tracking them down will bring closure, but this cross-country trip might just reopen old wounds.
• Forced Proximity: From Oregon to Nevada, there’s nowhere to run from the past. As the miles stack up, so does the tension, forcing Cloudy and Kyle to finally confront the mistake that tore them apart.
• A Powerful Teen Grief Novel: Told from the dual perspectives of Cloudy and Kyle, this poignant story explores the messy, heartbreaking, and sometimes funny realities of losing someone you love and finding a way to move forward.

Michelle Andreani was born and raised in New York City and has never lived anywhere else. (But she would like to try at some point.) She enjoys staying in, singing along, and stories with big hearts. The Way Back to You is her first novel.

Mindi Scott is the author of Freefall and Live Through This, and coauthor of Violent Ends and The Way Back to You. She lives near Seattle, Washington. Please visit her online at mindiscott.com.