Title:

Notes from the Midnight Driver                                     YA #4

Author:

Jordan Sonnenblick

Publisher:

Scholastic

Date:

2006

ISBN:

0439757797

# of Pages (Readership):

265 (YA)

Genre

Realistic Fiction

Diversity

Christian-Jewish, Intergenerational

Plot Summary:

16-year-old Alex, upset over his parents’ divorce battle, gets drunk on the evening of his mother’s first date and intends to drive to his father’s house to share his anger. Instead, he drives up on the neighbor’s lawn and “kills” her lawn gnome. The judge sentences him to 100 hours of community service at a nursing home, where his mother works, and she assigns him to Sol Lewis, a cranky, funny elderly Jewish man who is dying of emphysema. Their friendship grows. Sol teaches Alex Yiddish, how to improve his guitar playing, and how to be a mensch.

Theme(s):

Both the young and the old have much to teach each other.

Personal Response:

The letters between Alex and the judge are one of the best aspects of this book. The letters reveal Alex’s growing maturity and empathy for his friend Sol. I guessed early on that the judge was Sol’s estranged daughter, but Sonnenblick’s great characterization, especially of Alex and Sol, carried the story to a satisfying conclusion.

Curricular or Programming Connections:

Intergenerational, interfaith friendships