Read this one on the plane trips to and from Hawaii. I bring that up because the odd reading circumstances may have colored my opinions. 
 Unique story over all, even if the road-trip-as-coming-of-age-story thing gets to be a little cliche sometimes... but there's just enough weirdness to make it different and keep up the head scratching. The ending drags out a little, and it is not a surprise BUT it still manages to tug lightly at the reader's heartstrings. I feel comfortable recommending it even though it isn't something I'll put on my display shelf.