Brief Review of Shift, by Jennifer Bradbury

"Chrisandwin", Chris Collins and Win Coggans, are inseparable friends until a cross-country bicycling road trip ends with a missing person report and the involvement of the FBI.  Alternating between flashback and current time, Chris narrates the trip that begins from the boys' hometown in West Virginia and concludes on the Pacific Coast in northwest Washington.  Almost imperceptibly, both boys mature, steadily adding increasing risks and developing an independence; Chris from his showy friend, Win; and Win from his overbearing father.  

Interspersed throughout this coming-of-age story are detailed the technical and environmental hazards of long distance bicycling and the reader learns that the philosophy of "sharing the road" requires the kindness and generosity of strangers as much as the self-reliance and physical conditioning of the cyclists.  Bradbury combines the romantic allure of a quest for self-discovery with a mystery.  Although the mystery is fairly predictable, the essential question behind Win's disappearance is applicable to all young adults upon graduation from high school: who am I and who do I want to become?

Opportunities for geographic study and dynamic multi-media presentations through such applications as Googlelittrips.com can extend and enrich the reading of this novel.  Having recently returned from NW Washington, myself, I especially enjoyed following the changing landscapes and regional cultures of the boys' trek from the East to the West.   Teachers and students will enjoy plotting the destination and travel stops as much as solving the mystery of Shift.