No matter how fulfilling our lives are, I think that there’s always a tendency for people to want to run away, either literally or figuratively, at some point. At the same time, we fear being left behind and will track any loved one to the ends of the Earth in order to make sure that they stay with us. In the case of Tuesday Mayes, the heroine of Mary Vensel White’s YA novel, Things to See in Arizona, she’s dealing with both. Below is my review of Things to See in Arizona followed by an interview with White.
Things to See in Arizona plot summary
Tuesday Mayes has just finished high school and is eager to cement her college enrollment so that her plans are all set for the fall. When she and her best friend, Rosanna Robles, come home from seeing their favorite band, Brave Colony one night, Tuesday learns from her mother that her father has up and left for a few weeks to an undisclosed location.
This news is the latest in a long line of personal and family drama that has put a damper on Tuesday’s life’s plans. So, she hitches a ride with Rosanna’s older brother, Cristian, to track down her father, bring him home, and put her family back on track so that she can leave for school with no further reservations.
The story
Things to See in Arizona is a uniquely told coming of age summer road trip story. There is no period more exciting and more uncertain than those few months between high school and college, and White taps into that uncertainty by mixing in a unique blend of past, present, and future conflicts on our main character.
The beginning of the story is a slow burn as we get to know Tuesday as she exists as the youngest child of a nuclear family and how trivial her issues seem until she unearths some family history and a fairly recent health diagnosis that will inevitably alter her life. It reminds us that our worst demons and largest challenges are not always visible to others, and nobody escapes this world without a healthy share of drama.
The road trip scenes tend to be glossed over in favor of character development and conversation. The stops are Cristian’s idea in an attempt to explore some of his home state and extend his time with Tuesday in hopes of growing close to her, and in this time, she realizes that her initial discomfort around him is based on the fact that she is, and has been, crushing on him for some time.
There is also a mystical element to the narrative as Tuesday and Cristian pass through vortex territory full of unexplained experiences and an education in stones and minerals that are said to do more than just look pretty. This ties into Tuesday’s paternal grandmother’s history of having had an intuition that Tuesday shares yet largely ignores in favor of practicality. But as unexplained experiences pelt her throughout her road trip, Tuesday can’t help but admit to their validity, at least in her personal opinion.
The characters
Told in the first-person, we get to know Tuesday through her commentary on the events as they unfold. Within these encounters, we learn the backstory of each of her friends and family members to the best of Tuesday’s knowledge.
Tuesday’s mother, Janis, is a high strung, church-going protestor who is very passionate yet also very cryptic in her mission. Her father, Devin, is the calm voice of reason in a chaotic household who apparently has a breaking point. Her older brother, Logan, has escaped the dry desert in his own college pursuits and is thriving, though this has not always been the case.
Initially, it seems that Tuesday’s goals are simply that teenage desire to keep up with the standards of her peers, that she needs to go to college, be independent, and have the freedom to party and live her life. In all actuality, her time of normalcy is limited, and the desire to escape the desert and have as many new experiences as she can while she can without worrying if things will fall apart while she is gone.
My recommendation
I recommend Things to See in Arizona to any teen reader looking for a story that discusses serious topics while ultimately remaining light-hearted. It helps to know that your uncertainty about the future is a shared concern at any age, but it’s especially comforting to watch someone your own age go through their own unique journey and remind you that no two lives are the same and that there are no milestones to reach other than what you set for yourself with your own desires and limitations.
My main criticism is that the story is too short and doesn’t have time to fully flesh out every plot element that it presents. The ending in particular feels a bit rushed and abruptly wrapped up. But what is there is a fun and thought-provoking journey that makes me want to revisit the desert as much as Tuesday wants to escape it.
My rating!
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An interview with Mary Vensel White
Things to See in Arizona is your first YA book. What was the best part about writing for this age group? The most challenging?
Writing young adult characters allowed me to tap back into my younger self, that person who perhaps had a heightened sense of adventure and emotions. When you’re a young adult, life seems so full of possibilities, with so many paths laid out before you! I tried to capture this feeling when Tuesday and Rosanna are preparing to go out to the concert. She talks about that rainbow zone between childhood and adulthood, where you have new freedoms but still so much hope and energy.
The challenging aspects of writing the book came before I realized it was a young adult novel. I had started the book and there were so many subthemes I had introduced that it all became tangled up in a way. Once I recast the book as a young adult and leaned into Tuesday’s voice, the writing came much easier.
How did you decide to write the book in the present tense? Did it make the words flow easier?
The vast majority of young adult fiction is written in first person. This, of course, gets us much closer to the character and lets us experience, scene by scene, what she experiences.
In young adult fiction, there’s usually high emotional stakes, and first person helps to reflect what the character is feeling in the moment. I do think that writing first person causes a certain flow, as you lose yourself in the character…but it also has some drawbacks because being so close to the character can be limiting.
You can only reflect what she is experiencing. So yes, in the moment it flows, but then sometimes you have to go back and figure out creative ways to give the reader more information and insights.
Tuesday has to explain the origin of her name. How do you name your characters?
I suppose for each character, and each book, the character names have different stories. I always wanted to name a character Tuesday. When I was a young adult, I had a friend named Tuesday and that always stuck with me. Her last name, Mayes, I think implies “may”—and so, the choices before her.
I wanted her mother to have a “solid,” traditional name and her dad to have a not-so-traditional one. And I’ve always thought Cristian was a very, ahem, attractive name. And of course, her grandmother’s name, Luzi, means light. Sometimes thinking about those who have gone before us can help illuminate our path.
Tuesday is not the biggest fan of Arizona, and you yourself mention in your author bio. about your dislike for the desert. Do you think, based on your experience, that Tuesday will one day appreciate the desert, or do you think if she left she’d never look back?
Let me just say that I disliked the desert when I was growing up, probably in the same way lots of young people yearn to stretch outside their hometown. Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate the calming landscape of the desert, the big, starry night skies, and the reliable weather!
I have an emotional connection to the place where I spent my childhood. I would hope that one day Tuesday will appreciate certain aspects of the desert, and maybe putting some distance between herself and Scottsdale will allow her to see it in a new light someday.
Tuesday’s eagerness to go away to school is more about getting away from home and becoming more independent rather than about the schooling itself. What major do you see Tuesday eventually end up choosing? Do you feel that kids should go to college without knowing what they want to do with their lives?
As a college professor and the mother of four college-aged children, this is an answer I could write a few pages on! But first, Tuesday.
I would hope that her college experience will help her grow personally and find a rewarding path. The challenges she will face in the future might play some role in her eventual career.
The college decision for young adults nowadays can be complicated. On the one hand, no, I don’t think anyone should take on massive student loan debt when you’re unsure about your career path. On the other hand, as a liberal arts major, I think we sometimes focus on the end goals of a career and income when we talk about college, without discussing the social aspects, and the way college can broaden your horizons, introduce you to a wider and often more diverse circle of people, and enrich your worldview in countless ways. So, I would say the decision is a personal one, depending on many factors.
Do you have a favorite character? Do you have any casting preferences in mind if your book were to become a movie or series?
I sometimes get asked this about my books and it’s funny—although I’m a huge movie fan, I think the best thing about books is that it allows you to picture everything in your mind. But now that you’ve asked…
For Rosanna, Jenna Ortega or Karol Sevilla.
For Cristian, David Castro or Marcel Ruiz.
And for Tuesday, after searching high and low, I’d go with Mackenzie Foy!
Is there any particular message you want your readers to take away from this book?
I think the main idea of the book is to be loyal to yourself while leaning on others and to have courage when faced with the many paths life will throw at you! Also, to always cherish our human connections and relationships—they make everything worthwhile.
Any plans for a sequel?
You know, initially I did not have plans to write more about Tuesday. But I find myself wondering about which path she will choose, and how she will navigate the changes coming her way. I think writing about a sight-impaired character could be very inspiring, and that maybe there are readers out there who would appreciate a continuation of her story.
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I love the title of this book and its roadtrip focus! I’d love to take a roadtrip through Italy or the United States west one day. 🙂
Thanks for sharing! Hope you get to see everything on your travel bucket list one day!
A road trip, huh? I think I would probably travel around the East Coast and hit as many historic sites as possible.
Good choice! Thanks for reading!
i’d love to take a road trip through scotland!