This novel alternates between Del's teenage self and her adult self. Both are stuck in traffic jams, one as a foster child bent on running away and the other a performance artist of some kind (I think). The hours spent stuck on the freeway serve as teenage Del's revelatory moment, the beginning of her journey to becoming an artist. I just couldn't get into this, but the horror of being caught for hours behind an accident was rendered well enough to make me feel as uncomfortable as if I were there. ( )

Considering that nothing actually happened in this slim novel, I found it extremely interesting and funny. It's essentially a 140-page description of a traffic jam. It alternates chapters: one thread of the narrative is the 17-year-old protagonist who gets stuck in a massive Los Angeles traffic jam while running away from her umpteenth foster home, and the other thread is the same young woman, now a successful adult performance artist, who just did a play about a traffic jam.

As the people in their cars realize they will be stuck on the San Diego Freeway for a long, long time, they begin to get out and talk to each other as if the road is "one giant cocktail party," and the reader learns snippets of their lives. My favorite was probably the beautifully restored 1951 Hudson Hornet, a big birthday cake of a car gleaming perfection. Everyone gathered around asking the driver about it, how long has he had it, how long did it take to restore it, and so on. The driver is a teenage illegal Mexican immigrant who stole the car this morning and he's freaked by all the attention.

Though Breakout isn't for everyone, I recommend it for whimsical types who enjoy slice-of-life type books. I wouldn't call it a strictly Young Adult book either. ( )

Breakout opens with Del, coaxing her ancient Datsun onto a Los Angeles freeway exit, feeling triumphant that her plans have succeeded. Del, a 17-year-old who has been in and out of foster homes throughout childhood, has decided to break out of her life by faking her own death and emancipating herself via the LA freeway. However, just after she releases a scream of joy, traffic begins to slow then stop entirely, trapping her amidst thousands of other vehicles and delaying her escape to Arizona. Del fights feelings of frustration, fear, and hunger, but also takes the oppourtunity to tidy up her car, ponder the lives of the other temporary freeway residents, and even begins to construct a new identity as a performer.

The story of Breakout is told in two voices; one is third-person narration of Del's experiences that hot afternoon, and the second is a one-woman show written and performed by Del after she changes her name to Elena Franco, grows up, and becomes a mother. Elena bases her play on that memorable traffic jam, but fictionalizes it, imagining that she was able to fly above the lanes of stranded cars and read the minds of their inhabitants.

Del's unique perspective, her intelligence, and her sense of humor make her a complex and likeable character. She is arguably less likable as an adult who insists on complete control over her surroundings and interactions with people, but she is still sympathetic as a creative person who is searching for wisdom, and learning what it means to be a mother though she never had one herself. The narrative of the traffic jam subtly communicates the ways in which the experience will be formative for Del. This first taste of her freedom will affect her so profoundly that it will inspire and guide her later creative expression. This narrative puts readers inside Del's mind and lets them perceive her life and her interpetations of the lives of strangers through her eyes. On the other hand, in Del's play she attempts to introduce a series of characters whose minds she reads while they are stranded on the freeway. This narration is interesting in that it explores the fascinating and complicated lives of others, but it distracts from the captivating story of young Del, and leads the adult Del to a series of epiphanies that close the book with an air of preachy artificiality.

This book is appropriate for Young Adult readers older than 14, especially those interested in performance and living theater. It is a sensitive and provacative portrayal of a young woman claiming ownership of her own life, and is recommended though some readers may feel the book's separate voices unbalance the narration. ( )