Why We Took the Car by Wolfgang Herrndorf

Though labeled boring by fellow students, Mike proves anything but in this lively bildungsroman, rich with funny, poignant riffs on nicknames, boomerangs, Beyoncé, aging and the possibility of life on other planets.

Believably, the boys must face the legal consequences of their joy ride, but Mike realizes that it has taught him that the world, far from being a danger, is “bigger, the colors brighter” than he ever imagined. They careen from a party at the home of Mike’s crush to a chance meeting with a young dump dweller to a too-close encounter with a pig truck on the autobahn. Wolfgang Herrndorf (1965-2013) was born in Hamburg, Germany, and studied painting before turning to writing later in his career. Mike, a “rich scaredy-cat,” and his smart, “low-class” Russian friend share the bottom rung on their school’s social ladder and an affinity for philosophical reflection, which bonds them on an erratic road trip. Occasionally, I come across a YA novel thats so good, I recommend it to everyone, no matter what age or sex they are and no matter what type of books they usually like to read. Maik Klingenberg is a prosperous, but neglected middle-class son who is ridiculed by his school peers. Lonely and caustic, Mike Klingenberg seems like the Berliner descendant of Holden Caulfield, but this 14-year-old’s tale veers from that angsty course with a classmate named Tschick at the wheel of a hot-wired car. Why We Took the Car by Wolfgang Herrndorf A road-trip YA novel with a difference I read a lot of YA fiction because its fun and light and easy to read. Why We Took the Car is both a road-trip novel and a wonderfully tender coming-of-age story of two pubescent runaways that is set in the back blocks of the former East Berlin. With its car window on the German landscape and teen culture, the late Wolfgang Herrndorf’s novel (nimbly translated by Tim Mohr) fuels an especially expansive reading experience. Even in today’s connected world, relatively little young-adult fiction from other countries is published in the United States. Fourteen-year-old hero Mike Klingenberg is likable and relatable, with an authentic voice that rings true. You’re in for a bumpy, exhilarating ride with this winner of the German Youth Literature Award. WHY WE TOOK THE CAR, by German author Wolfgang Herrndorf, is a funny, intriguing, and absorbing coming-of-age story.