In the novel, it's a more drawn-out process, with Auden deciding to take Heidi up on her offer after spending a few lonely weeks at home. The next morning, Auden says goodbye to her mother, Victoria, an acclaimed literature professor, and drives to her father’s oceanside home a few hours away. The flatness of the characters was echoed by a New York Times reviewer that claimed the characters had all majorly been dumbed down to present an "Instagram-friendly" adaptation, leaving the film with no clear conflict or stakes. Maggie: Maggie is another native of Colby who works at Clementine's, Auden's stepmother, Heidi's boutique. Her mother has always been detached and career-focused, and pushes Auden to be the same way with her academics.

There was a whole other world at night, one I’d been completely unaware of, and it made me start thinking about the people who chose to live in it, and how they found themselves there. I wasn't too sure what it was going to be like, because I loved the cover, but I'm told that's not how you're supposed to chose a book :). This differs from the book, where Auden never watches Eli compete in person — she only finds out that he's riding publicly again from a video she watches with Maggie and their other friends Esther and Leah. I read That Summer as well, and found them both so hauntingly similar that I just had to skim through them before writing this review to remember what happened in which book. After spending multiple nights together to fulfil Auden's "quest" of experiencing the childhood and teenage activities she never had, Auden and Eli can no longer ignore their chemistry and finally (finally!To All the Boys' Scribe Sofia Alvarez To Helm 'Along for the Ride' Adaptation For Netflix; Kate Bosworth, Andie MacDowell Among Cast". Eli comforts her, letting her vent about the fight and repressed emotions from her parents’ divorce. The novel focuses on Auden West, who never sleeps at night due to her parents' continuous fighting when she was in high school. In May 2019, it was announced that the novel, was one of three Dessen books that were picked up by Netflix to adapt into a feature film. When Robert implies that Heidi asked Auden to visit to be a babysitter, Heidi states she invited her so Robert could spend time with his daughters.

In the book, Auden finds out that her mother has had several romantic relationships with the graduate students she works with since her divorce from Auden's father. I wrote Lock and Key while I was pregnant, and edited it in the last few months before my daughter was born. There's nothing in Along for the Ride that we haven't seen before and I would like to see her try something new, branch out a little.Like many of her previous books, I love how much of a role friendship plays in these protagonist's life. The employees at Heidi's boutique encourage Auden to go to a party with them and there she has an encounter with Eli.

In the book, Auden and Eli's first kiss happens on a crowded dance floor at the Tallyho, a local club that Eli sneaks them into. It was fun because at first when Auden arrives in her father new town she doesn't know anyone, seeing how she interacted with the other girls around her funny because all of the girls were interested make up and girly stuff, while Auden is more interested preparing for college. I was the kind of kid that people always sighed over and said, "She has such a wild imagination," which usually meant "I wish Sarah would try to stick to the truth. Jason and his plot were scraped from the movie, and Auden only vaguely mentions skipping her high-school prom.

She isn’t very comfortable with being out of her element, and only very slowly develops friendships, and starts spending time with a guy, Eli, who has some issues of his own to work through. She blames this on her colicky older brother who “exhausted her parents” so they were too tired when it came to her. In her trademark blockbuster-style, Sarah Dessen creates a powerful and irresistible story of two people learning how to connect.