Early one August morning, seventeen-year-old computer "nerd" Duff Pringle leaves Richmond, Virginia, in a newly-acquired used car and begins an unexpectedly convoluted journey to San Jose, California, and the job that awaits him there.
An overweight, timid fifteen-year-old boy and his popular fourteen-year-old sister begin to overcome their guilt over their father's death and reconnect with each other and their emotionally-distant mother when they accompany her on a two-week speaking tour.
When best friends Chris and Win go on a cross country bicycle trek the summer after graduating and only one returns, the FBI wants to know what happened.
Examines how people have traveled across the United States on roads from Indian trails to interstate highways and describes the development of different means of transportation and their impact on American society.
Imogene Poplar, a private investigator made of wood, is sent by a reporter and Tameka's Uncle Ray in search of the missing Oliver K. Woodman, and her journey is related through the letters and postcards of those she meets along the way.