The Ride Home

Here's how this works. I read a book or two and tell you about them and try not to get too long-winded. This time, a review of The Ride Home (AdHouse, 2007).



The Ride Home is a huggingly cute story about a "directionally-challenged" gnome called Nodo who gets lost and is trying to find his way home. But this isn't your usual fantasy tale; Joey Weiser has set it in a small town in modern America populated by dozens of invisible critters living their own little businesses just on the other side of human perception. Our hero is a nervous little guy who just wants to get back to the human family van that he loves to clean, but between bureaucracy, romance, bigotry and junkyard bullies, he'd have a tough road, even if he could remember the way back...

I enjoyed this book even more than I do Weiser's shorter pieces. He surprised me regularly in this story, with unexpected new obstacles every few pages. It's done with a delightfully balanced sense of scale and wit, with wonderful artwork and character designs. Certainly a great book for kids and for grown-ups looking for something light, this comes recommended for all ages.