Sarah Dessen's novel Along for the Ride follows Auden West through the summer before she begins college. Auden has agreed to spend the summer at her father's beachfront home in the tiny town of Colby. Auden is hesitant at first because the extended visit means sharing a living space with her father's young wife, Heidi and the couple's newborn daughter, Thisbe. Auden's parents divorced several years ago and she is still smarting from it.