"There comes a time when silence isn't golden. It's just plain chicken."

My favorite quote from this vintage young adult novel. My favorite quote for reasons other than the novel itself. But that's another story.

I found this read to be delightfully old-fashioned and pretty humorous during the first half or so, as the characters strive to earn their way to Washington. The second half, during the actual trip, still gave me nostalgic feels even while the story felt a little scattered to me—likely because the characters, including Fran, are so scattered. By the time I got to the rather abrupt ending, I realized I didn't quite see a driving point to the story.

Also, while I understand why this novel must have been marketed as a romance in its day, it isn't. As far as the romantic thread goes, for most of the book, Fran just moons around dreaming of what eventually happens in rushed, cursory fashion in a few pages toward the end...all at the expense of her hometown boyfriend, who's watching her moon around about another guy.

I could take the kids' fight to get to Washington seriously, but I couldn't take them seriously much once they got there. Still, perhaps the redeeming quality here is that Fran seems aware of that, even as she narrates the story. Like she's pretty much saying, "Yeah. We were a bunch of mixed-up kids back then. Didn't know what we wanted yet, and we'd have to muddle through and figure it out sometime after our senior trip."

So. Maybe that's the point?

Anyhow, for the nostalgic factor alone, I still enjoyed the whole read about this youthful adventure. And I certainly got a kick out of the old-fashioned cover art I tracked down. ( )

From vintage scholastic cover: "Our treasurer reports that we have exactl one dollar and fifteen cents in the treasury. Despite this dismal fact, we voted unanimously to undertake a trip of eleven hundred miles to Washington, D.C., next spring." What a wonderful, crazy idea! For Fran, president of the senior class, it meant headaches, hard work...and romance!