Shift
by Jennifer Bradbury
New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2008.
Chris and Win (short for Winston) have been best friends since middle school, infact the two have been collectively known as "chrisandwin". As a final adventure after they graduate from high school and before they head off to different colleges the two set out on a two month cross country bike trip, but only Chris makes it back home at the end of the summer leaving Win's parents, an FBI agent and the rest of their small town wondering what happened to him on their trip.
Bradbury's Shift, told from Chris' perspective, bounces back in forth between the present tense of Chris at Georgia Tech to Chris and Win's bike trip. While trying to make it through his first week of college Chris is visited by an FBI agent who wants to know what happend to Win while they biked across the country and why Win would have taken off the way he did. Chris knows Win is still alive when he starts recieving mysterious post cards signed "Tricksey", he knows it's a sign that his friend is out there and wants to be found.
This is an great fast paced read about the lengths Chris will go to not only finding his missing friend but also finding himself. Shift is a great adventure/mystery but it also reminds us of the valuable lesson of coming in to our own at the end of high school and learning to break away from the comfort of home and of old friends.
I'd recommend this book for grades 7 and up.
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