1961 - When seventeen-year-old Jude sees Coach Bob’s note on the bulletin board offering two free tickets to the Rose Bowl game, he thinks his small-town parochial life as a preacher’s kid is suddenly about to change for the better. Rather than being buried in the bleak Minnesota winter, he and his friend could be on their way to freedom in sunny California. But as Jude and his friend set out to hitchhike Route 66, Jude soon realizes they’ve embarked on more than a road trip. As the teens encounter a series of trials that test their fortitude, beliefs, and ambitions, Jude must rethink what really matters and whether the freedom he seeks is even possible. A story of friendship and discovery written in the vein of The Catcher in the Rye, the novel addresses the larger questions of life through the fresh and fervent eyes of youthful angst.