Blue Highway

Darleen R. Golke is a high-school teacher-librarian in Abbotsford, B.C.

The friendship between Truth and Skye dates back to elementary school,
when Skye “saved” Truth’s life after a delivery van hit her. Eight
years later, Truth still feels obligated to Skye. Alternating between
gratitude and resentment, she begins to question their friendship as she
watches Skye manipulate Vale, a co-worker, to gain access to a car;
flirt with and captivate Ryan, another co-worker, whom Truth silently
worships but is too shy to approach; and use Truth’s talent for
getting strangers “nine times out of ten” to buy them booze. The
girls work together at a Franzl’s Pizza, party enthusiastically and
frequently, drink regularly and liberally, drive recklessly and too fast
(often along the “blue highway,” so named because back roads used to
be marked in blue on maps), and fill their days with countless teenage
activities. Initially, Skye appears to have the alcohol problem, but
ultimately it is Truth’s drinking that spirals out of control with
fatal consequences.

Truth’s Dad believes “there [is] no such thing as an accident, just
a series of mistakes.” Truth narrates her mistakes in rambling and
uneven prose. The usual teenager issues about friendship, romance,
dreams and fantasies, relationships with parents, sports, long summer
days with few responsibilities, and boring minimum-wage jobs emerge.
However, the author focuses particular attention on drinking and driving
and takes it to an inevitable and tragic outcome. As Truth’s
unhappiness, dissatisfaction, and frustrations increase, so does her
alcohol consumption.

A moral tale about the dangers of drinking and driving, Blue Highway
sounds a strong warning, but fails to engage the reader fully until well
into the narrative, when the pace of the action picks up, relationships
meld, and a myriad of unexplained issues are clarified. Recommended with
reservations.