Major Detours: A Choices Novel

by Zachary Sergi

Overview

One of Lambda Literary's Most Anticipated Books of the Month
One of PopSugar's Best New YA Books Released in September

Choose your path forward in this mystical interactive YA about the powers of friendship, self-discovery, and tarot.

It's the summer before college and four best friends—Amelia, Chase, Cleo, and Logan—are on the first leg of their road trip inspired by the unique tarot deck that Amelia inherited from her grandmother. However, their trip full of visiting occult shops, bonding and sightseeing, takes a major detour as the friends discover that their tarot deck is more valuable—and coveted—than they could've ever imagined. As the friends race to finish this mystical scavenger-hunt across the West coast and uncover the mysteries of their tarot deck, it is you who will decide where to go next and how the story will end. With four possible final and romantic endings, you will get to make actual choices to further the friends’ road trip adventure in this unique interactive novel.

​Will you uncover the mysteries of the tarot deck and the legacy left behind? Will you help Amelia and Chase learn and grow? And will you unravel the secrets these friends keep from each other—and from themselves?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762471416
Publisher:	Running Press Book Publishers
Publication date:	09/07/2021
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	663,165
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Zachary Sergi is the queer writer of nearly a dozen works of Interactive Fiction, including the Heroes Rise and Versusseries. Zachary was raised in Manhattan, studied Creative Writing at Regis High School and the University of Pennsylvania, and now lives in Los Angeles with his husband, where he also writes for television. Learn more at zacharysergi.com or by following @zacharysergi (Twitter) or @zacharysergiwriter (Instagram/Facebook).

Karl James Mountford is an illustrator who works in both traditional and digital media. He has created artwork for such titles as The Uncommoners (Penguin Random House) and A Place Called Perfect (Usborne Publishing), to name just a couple. Karl specializes in book cover design, but also works across a wide range of projects from picture books to middle grade and young adult. He currently lives and works in Wales, where his sketch books rarely get a day off.

Editorial Reviews

Dazzling and mystical, Major Detours takes you on a rollicking adventure studded with tender self-discovery and winding paths I was eager to explore. Zachary Sergi has written a brilliant, innovative story full of wonder.” —Jessica Goodman, bestselling author of They Wish They Were Us and They’ll Never Catch Us

"I had so much fun reading this novel that, the second I was done with it the first time, I jumped back to the beginning and started reading it again. With Major Detours, Zachary Sergi has put a fresh spin on the age-old question of whether we choose our own adventures, or whether our adventures choose us. This rollicking road trip will keep you guessing until the very last page."—Grant Ginder, author of The People We Hate at the Wedding

"A fascinating journey for fun and introspection—just like the inspirational tarot.”—Kirkus Reviews

"Perfect for older teens who enjoy stories of adventure, mystery, and those that involve solving puzzles, riddles, and codes." —SLJ

From the Publisher

10/01/2021

Gr 10 Up—Amelia (assumed white), Chase (assumed white), Logan (Trinidadian of African, Indian, and French descent; brown-skinned), and Cleo (who has a Japanese surname), decide to go on one last road trip before they all move away for college, carrying a special tarot deck inherited by Amelia's deceased grandmother as their guide. During their journey, they take major detours that cause them to meet new people (good and bad) and endure some dangerous and stressful situations that result in different forms of self-discovery. The characters all have realistic problems and contemplate questions about the future that will resonate with young people. Identity struggles that the LGBQTIA+ community often face are also woven in throughout, but with hopeful outcomes. Readers will enjoy a mystical ride with the teens and help them decide their destiny with this interactive novel that allows readers to make choices about the story along the way. VERDICT Perfect for older teens who enjoy stories of adventure, mystery, and those that involve solving puzzles, riddles, and codes.—Lacey Webster, Acadia Parish Lib., Crowley, LA

School Library Journal

2021-07-27
See what your cards reveal....

Before parting for different colleges, four friends spend their last summer together on a road trip through California, with a deck of tarot cards deciding their specific route. At their first stop, they discover that the unique deck is actually the last work of a prestigious artist. He hid the four missing cards, and the deck’s owner can only locate them by deciphering clues. The friends—brash, anxious Amelia, who inherited the deck from her beloved grandmother; Amelia’s best friend, Chase, the analytical planner; Logan, Chase’s athletic boyfriend; Cleo, the maybe-nonbinary artist—alter their trip in order to complete this elaborate scavenger hunt. The story follows the symbolic journey of the tarot’s major arcana, one of setting out and discovering truths, facing obstacles, and eventually arriving at deeper understanding. Sergi has folded the concept of the tarot into the structure of the book itself in a creative and entertaining way, as readers follow a choose-your-own-adventure style of page turns. Although some destinations are predetermined, each decision shapes the journey and the ultimate outcome. For those less familiar with the tarot, the book helpfully includes descriptions of card meanings as well as various perspectives on how to read them. Amelia is Jewish, Chase seems to be White by default, multiracial Logan is Trinidadian, and Cleo is cued as biracial (Japanese/White).

A fascinating journey for fun and introspection—just like the inspirational tarot. (reading guide, personality profiles) (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews