61 pages 2 hours read

Sarah Dessen

Along for the Ride

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2009

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapters 9-12

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 9 Summary

Auden and Eli spend every evening together enjoying activities such as last call for pizza on the boardwalk and fishing on the pier. Their latest adventure is bowling. He can’t believe she never bowled, but Auden reminds him she didn’t have a childhood. They compare pasts—Eli’s rowdy, four-sibling household with activities like sleepovers, pizza parties, and treehouses, and Auden’s quiet, studious and cultured activities. Though Auden is upset she isn’t talented at bowling, Eli encourages her to try again because you don’t get strikes immediately. She doesn’t excel, but she has fun. Eli deems Auden reclaiming her childhood as a “quest.”

Robert finishes his book and excitedly invites Auden to read the last lines that conclude his epic, 10-years-in-the-making work. Robert shares the good news with a disheveled, sleep-deprived Heidi. After discussing a celebratory dinner, Robert volunteers Auden to watch Thisbe, and she agrees. He rocks Thisbe for a while, the first time he’s shown interest in her and assisted with parenting.

Their friend Adam stops by the shop one day and announces he’s throwing the summer’s first hot dog party. The girls say hot dog parties (HDPs) were a summer Saturday tradition started by Abe and Eli.

Related Titles

By Sarah Dessen

Study Guide

logo

Just Listen

Sarah Dessen

Just Listen

Sarah Dessen

Plot Summary

logo

Keeping the Moon

Sarah Dessen

Keeping the Moon

Sarah Dessen

Plot Summary

logo

Lock and Key

Sarah Dessen

Lock and Key

Sarah Dessen

Plot Summary

logo

Saint Anything

Sarah Dessen

Saint Anything

Sarah Dessen

Study Guide

logo

Someone Like You

Sarah Dessen

Someone Like You

Sarah Dessen

Study Guide

logo

The Truth About Forever

Sarah Dessen

The Truth About Forever

Sarah Dessen

Plot Summary

logo

This Lullaby

Sarah Dessen

This Lullaby

Sarah Dessen

Plot Summary

logo

What Happened to Goodbye

Sarah Dessen

What Happened to Goodbye

Sarah Dessen