An awkward kid goes on a 3-week school trip to Europe in 1989 in this "embarassingly true" memoir. Dan Santat is an illustrator, so it was natural for him to write up his teenage memories into a graphic novel. In this book, Dan is off on a trip to Paris, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and England. He doesn't have any friends signed up for the trip, and doesn't even want to go, but his parents want him to see the world and he is eager to shed his middle school humiliations and missteps. As he travels from country to country, his friendship with Amy turns into his first romantic relationship, and it is helped and hindered by the other kids on the trip. He also experiences an amount of freedom that kids today would never enjoy--and along with it he has some harrowing adventures. It is rare to find a romance story for middle schoolers that is about kids who are 13 years old. The illustrations beautifully capture the sights of Europe, and the writing is full of humor and compassion for the kid that Dan once was. A wonderful story about first love and so much more that is perfect for middle schoolers (and anyone who ever was that age).
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