Just when I thought I couldn't love Sarah Dessen's books any more than I already did, Along for the Ride blew my mind and now, I just have to buy it so that I'll always have a keepsake of this book. 
 Basically, Auden is a girl who missed out on a lot of childhood activities because she was busy playing grown-up. Her parents are driven academics and her older brother is much like a child on his own. When her parents start fighting and subsequently divorce, she stops sleeping at night, and hangs out at a diner where she can get away from their fighting. 
 The book really picks up when she gets to spend a summer with her father and his new family. She gets a job at a clothes boutique which introduces her to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. 
 I liked this book a whole lot, because while it has certain small similarities with other books by Sarah Dessen, it's a book that has so many strong points as well. Auden having to deal with a pressurizing mother and a selfish and inconsiderate father. For a moment, I thought her father would be the "good guy" in the relationship, because let's face it, her mother was portrayed as someone who really wouldn't be considered a good mother in my books, but seeing how her father treats his new wife and child because of a book he's writing, I've come to the conclusion that Auden didn't really stand a chance at having a normal childhood. 
 But naturally, the best thing about a Dessen book is that her characters always get a second chance. Auden meets Eli and what I liked about their relationship is that it's never written as a romance. It's the coming together of two people who stay up late at night, both with issues and yet, the issues are very evenly revealed and resolved throughout the novel, keeping everything well-paced. Eli really is a great guy to be with and while a particular point in his past is now as fully explored as I would have liked, his character is well developed and fleshed out. 
 I liked that many characters were well-developed and one of the characters I quited enjoyed was Heidi, Auden's stepmother. One would think that she's some dumb, vapid blonde who married someone older and richer for monetary gains but once you meet Heidi, you'll really see that she's someone of real substance, a mother who just wants to take care of her daughter as well as make things easy for Auden. I would say that as a secondary character, she was written well. 
 As always, the characters all get a happy ending (more or less) and this truly is a great summer read, even if it's the winter season at the moment. Well done, Sarah Dessen! :D