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September 2001
Compiled by Lucy M. Lockley of St.Charles City-County Library (St. Charles, MO), from contributions by the members of Fiction_L.

(To use this list in your library, book club, etc., please include the following credit line: "Compiled by the subscribers of the Fiction_L mailing list." This list may not be used for commercial purposes.)

See also Car Fiction, Planes, Traines, and Automobiles

(Adult Fiction with a car, or cars, as a 'character' in the story or as the point around which the story takes place.)

"Through the Night" by Jim Aylesworth & Pamela Patrick

"The Great Desert Race" by Betty Baker

"Crash" by J.G. Ballard

"The Body in the Volvo" by K.K. Beck

"Talking Man" by Terry Bisson

(From Arbor House, 1986 - the Classic SF automobile novel.)

"Southern Dreaming" by Linda Bruckheimer

"Carpool" by Mary Cahill

"Riding in Cars with Boys: Confessions of a Bad Girl Who Makes Good" by Beverly Donofrio

(An autobiographical novel and Drew Barrymore stars in the movie directed by Penny Marshall.)

'Stephanie Plum' series by Janet Evanovich

(Main character always seems to be in need of a car.)

"Edsel: a novel of Detroit" by Loren D. Estleman

"Chitty Chitty Bang-Bang" by Ian Fleming

"32 Cadillacs" by Joe Gores

(This title is especially fun, and especially car-heavy. Gores has other titles in this series of crime stories based around a detective agency specializing in auto repos.)

"Wheels" by Arthur Hailey

"White Merc with Fins" by J.M. Hawes

"The Last Studebaker" by Robin Hemley

'Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee' series by Tony Hillerman

(Characters always seem to be in a car driving across the Navajo Reservation.)

"Death by Station Wagon" by Jon Katz

"On the Road" by Jack Kerouac

"Christine" by Stephen King

"Murder Makes the Wheels Go Round" by Emma Lathen

"The Last Open Road" & "Montezuma's Ferrari" by B.S. (Burt) Levy

(Two novels about cross-country auto racing.)

"The Way to Dusty Death" by Alistair MacLean

"Driving Lessons" by Ed McBain

"Boy's Life" by Robert McCammon

(Features a magical bicycle and a phantom car--which, while not a main character, has a crucial role to play.)

"Cadillac Jack" by Larry McMurtry

"Motor City" by Bill Morris

"The Last Convertible" by Anton Myrer

(Five Harvard students and their lives all connected to "The Empress", a 1938 green Packard convertible, the ownership of which is transferred between them down through the years.)

"Still Life with Volkswagens" by Geoff Nicholson

"The Yellow Rolls Royce" by Jack Pearl

(An episodic novel that follows a fabulous car as it rolls through three lives in Europe in the 30's and 40's.)

"Coast to Coast" by Frederic Raphael

(Has a couple driving from New England to California.

"Low Rider" and "Bird Dog" by Phillip Reed

(A mystery series that features a used car salesman as the protagonist)

"The Betsy" or "The Stallion" by Harold Robbins

"Unwanted Company" and "Unfinished Business" by Barbara Seranella

(The heroine of these mysteries is a mechanic and these two titles feature her new sideline, a limousine business.)

"Crash Course" by Kathy Hogan Trocheck

(A mystery with a nasty car dealership and a bad car that starts the whole story rolling. Trocheck's two sleuths are, Truman Kicklighter (who is in this mystery) and Callahan Garrity.

"Breathing Lessons" by Anne Tyler

(It's not about the car, but the couple are forced to deal with each other because they're confined to the car while on a long road trip.)

"The Metal Green Mercedes", "The Red Citroen", & "The White Audi" by Timothy Williams

YOUNG ADULT TITLES:

"Rules of the Road" by Joan Bauer

(A good HS Fiction selection, with a car playing a critical role. A 17-year old sales clerk becomes a chauffeur for a shoe company executive. Loads of humor - shoes and cars can be funny.)

"Driver's Ed" by Caroline B. Cooney

"Crash Club", "Hot Rod", "Road Rocket", or "Street Rod" by Henry Gregor Felsen

(YA novels which feature cars and young drivers.)

"How Far Would You Have Gotten if I Hadn't Called You Back?" by Valeria Hobbs

(Set in the 50s, California - about a girl and her hotrod and first love and all that!)

"Dancing in Cadillac Light," by Kimberly Willis Holt

(2001 YA novel)

"The Car" by Gary Paulsen

(A teenager unexpectedly(!) left on his own by both his parents takes off on a trip west in a car he builds from a kit.)

"A Five-Color Buick and a Blue-Eyed Cat" by Phyllis Anderson Wood

'Rolling Thunder' series by Kent Wright

(Has to do with stock car racing. There are at least eight books in the series which is probably geared to older teens and up.

"The Beetle and Me: A Love Story" by Karen Romano Young

(15 year old Daisy embarks on the journey of restoring an old beetle, the car of her childhood.)

www.webrary.org/rs:flbklists/driving.html
First published on the Web: 9/20/2001
Last updated: 11/18/2003