Clean Getaway

One day, Scoob’s Grandma turns up at his house and invites him on a road trip in her new camper van. It’s a no brainer, because Scoob loves G’ma, but Dad’s also just grounded him and so it’s not like he’s got anything better to do.

As they watch Alabama drift past from the comfort of the van, G’ma tells Scoob that they’re retracing the steps of a road trip she took with his late grandpa. But, 51 years ago, things in America, and particularly in the South, were very different, especially for a black man, and people were not very accepting of G’ma and grandpa’s mixed relationship – her being a white woman, him a black man. To help them find places to stay which were accepting of black people at that time, G’ma shows Scoob the Green Book, an old guide to travel in America for black people.

Yet as G’ma and Scoob get further and further from home, Scoob realises that G’ma’s not quite her usual self, and – worse – she’s not answering Scoob’s dad’s phone calls. As he learns more about his grandpa, Scoob realises that his dad might just have had it wrong about his grandpa all these years. But will he ever see his dad again to be able to tell him what he knows?

Stone’s immensely readable novel is a satisfying, timeless read about a family’s history which intersects with the American civil rights movement, and reminds readers of the impact of racism and intolerance. Scoob’s road trip with his grandma is a journey of discovery for them both, and Stone’s characterisation and empathy infuse a tightly plotted book with short chapters which never lets up on the gas.