Skip to Main Content (Press Enter)

The Long Ride

By Marina Budhos

By Marina Budhos

By Marina Budhos

By Marina Budhos

By Marina Budhos

By Marina Budhos

By Marina Budhos

By Marina Budhos

By Marina Budhos
Read by N’Jameh Camara

By Marina Budhos
Read by N’Jameh Camara

Best Seller
Paperback $7.99

Sep 14, 2021 | ISBN 9780553534252 | Middle Grade (10 and up)

Hardcover $16.99

Sep 24, 2019 | ISBN 9780553534221 | Middle Grade (10 and up)

Hardcover $19.99

Sep 24, 2019 | ISBN 9780553534238 | Middle Grade (10 and up)

Ebook $6.99

Sep 24, 2019 | ISBN 9780553534245 | Middle Grade (10 and up)

Audiobook Download $15.00

Sep 24, 2019 | 266 Minutes | Middle Grade (10 and up)

All Formats
+
    The Long Ride by Marina Budhos
    Paperback $7.99
    Sep 14, 2021 | ISBN 9780553534252

    Buy from Other Retailers:

    See All Formats (4) +

    Paperback
    –

    • Paperback $7.99

      Sep 14, 2021 | ISBN 9780553534252 | Middle Grade (10 and up)

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Hardcover (2)
    +

    • Hardcover $16.99

      Sep 24, 2019 | ISBN 9780553534221 | Middle Grade (10 and up)

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Hardcover $19.99

      Sep 24, 2019 | ISBN 9780553534238 | Middle Grade (10 and up)

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Ebook
    +

    • Ebook

      Sep 24, 2019 | ISBN 9780553534245 | Middle Grade (10 and up)

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Audio
    +

    • Audiobook Download

      Sep 24, 2019 | ISBN 9780593147535 | Middle Grade (10 and up)

      266 Minutes

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Buy the Audiobook Download:

    About The Long Ride

    In the tumult of 1970s New York City, kids are expected to figure out issues of race that adults haven’t when seventh graders are bused from their neighborhood in Queens to integrate a new school in South Jamaica.

    Jamila, Josie, and Francesca are three mixed-race girls who have always felt like outsiders in their mostly white neighborhood in Queens, but at least they have each other. Now it’s seventh grade, and they’re part of an experiment where kids will go on a long bus ride to integrate a new school in a black neighborhood. Maybe there the three girls can finally fit in.

    But Francesca’s parents put her in private school. And Jamila and Josie discover that they’re not even in the same classes.

    How do they find their place in a school divided between black and white? And what about the boys wanting to be friends–and maybe more? Can kids come together when grown-ups stay apart?

    In this tender story of friendship and family love, award-winning author Marina Budhos captures what it’s like to tip from twelve to thirteen and to try to carry the dreams of adults.

    About The Long Ride

    In the tumult of 1970s New York City, seventh graders are bussed from their neighborhood in Queens to integrate a new school in South Jamaica.

    Jamila Clarke. Josie Rivera. Francesca George. Three mixed-race girls, close friends whose immigrant parents worked hard to settle their families in a neighborhood with the best schools. The three girls are outsiders there, but they have each other.

    Now, at the start seventh grade, they are told they will be part of an experiment, taking a long bus ride to a brand-new school built to “mix up the black and white kids.” Their parents don’t want them to be experiments. Francesca’s send her to a private school, leaving Jamila and Josie to take the bus ride without her.

    While Francesca is testing her limits, Josie and Jamila find themselves outsiders again at the new school. As the year goes on, the Spanish girls welcome Josie, while Jamila develops a tender friendship with a boy–but it’s a relationship that can exist only at school.

    About The Long Ride

    In the tumult of 1970s New York City, seventh graders are bussed from their neighborhood in Queens to integrate a new school in South Jamaica.

    Jamila Clarke. Josie Rivera. Francesca George. Three mixed-race girls, close friends whose immigrant parents worked hard to settle their families in a neighborhood with the best schools. The three girls are outsiders there, but they have each other.

    Now, at the start seventh grade, they are told they will be part of an experiment, taking a long bus ride to a brand-new school built to “mix up the black and white kids.” Their parents don’t want them to be experiments. Francesca’s send her to a private school, leaving Jamila and Josie to take the bus ride without her.

    While Francesca is testing her limits, Josie and Jamila find themselves outsiders again at the new school. As the year goes on, the Spanish girls welcome Josie, while Jamila develops a tender friendship with a boy–but it’s a relationship that can exist only at school.

    About The Long Ride

    In the tumult of 1970s New York City, seventh graders are bussed from their neighborhood in Queens to integrate a new school in South Jamaica.

    Jamila Clarke. Josie Rivera. Francesca George. Three mixed-race girls, close friends whose immigrant parents worked hard to settle their families in a neighborhood with the best schools. The three girls are outsiders there, but they have each other.

    Now, at the start seventh grade, they are told they will be part of an experiment, taking a long bus ride to a brand-new school built to “mix up the black and white kids.” Their parents don’t want them to be experiments. Francesca’s send her to a private school, leaving Jamila and Josie to take the bus ride without her.

    While Francesca is testing her limits, Josie and Jamila find themselves outsiders again at the new school. As the year goes on, the Spanish girls welcome Josie, while Jamila develops a tender friendship with a boy–but it’s a relationship that can exist only at school.

    About The Long Ride

    In the tumult of 1970s New York City, seventh graders are bussed from their neighborhood in Queens to integrate a new school in South Jamaica.

    Jamila Clarke. Josie Rivera. Francesca George. Three mixed-race girls, close friends whose immigrant parents worked hard to settle their families in a neighborhood with the best schools. The three girls are outsiders there, but they have each other.

    Now, at the start seventh grade, they are told they will be part of an experiment, taking a long bus ride to a brand-new school built to “mix up the black and white kids.” Their parents don’t want them to be experiments. Francesca’s send her to a private school, leaving Jamila and Josie to take the bus ride without her.

    While Francesca is testing her limits, Josie and Jamila find themselves outsiders again at the new school. As the year goes on, the Spanish girls welcome Josie, while Jamila develops a tender friendship with a boy–but it’s a relationship that can exist only at school.

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Listen to a sample from The Long Ride

    Also by Marina Budhos

    We Are All We Have
    Watched
    See all books by Marina Budhos

    Also by Marina Budhos

    We Are All We Have
    Watched
    See all books by Marina Budhos

    Also by Marina Budhos

    We Are All We Have
    Watched
    See all books by Marina Budhos

    Also by Marina Budhos

    We Are All We Have
    Watched
    See all books by Marina Budhos

    Also by Marina Budhos

    We Are All We Have
    Watched
    See all books by Marina Budhos

    About Marina Budhos

    Marina Budhos is an author of award-winning fiction and nonfiction. Her newest novel, Watched, takes on surveillance in our post 9/11 world and is a 2017 Walter Award Honor and an Asian-Pacific American Award in Literature Honor. Watched is a companion… More about Marina Budhos

    About Marina Budhos

    Marina Budhos is an author of award-winning fiction and nonfiction. Her newest novel, Watched, takes on surveillance in our post 9/11 world and is a 2017 Walter Award Honor and an Asian-Pacific American Award in Literature Honor. Watched is a companion… More about Marina Budhos

    About Marina Budhos

    Marina Budhos is an author of award-winning fiction and nonfiction. Her newest novel, Watched, takes on surveillance in our post 9/11 world and is a 2017 Walter Award Honor and an Asian-Pacific American Award in Literature Honor. Watched is a companion… More about Marina Budhos

    About Marina Budhos

    Marina Budhos is an author of award-winning fiction and nonfiction. Her newest novel, Watched, takes on surveillance in our post 9/11 world and is a 2017 Walter Award Honor and an Asian-Pacific American Award in Literature Honor. Watched is a companion… More about Marina Budhos

    About Marina Budhos

    Marina Budhos is an author of award-winning fiction and nonfiction. Her newest novel, Watched, takes on surveillance in our post 9/11 world and is a 2017 Walter Award Honor and an Asian-Pacific American Award in Literature Honor. Watched is a companion… More about Marina Budhos

    Product Details

    Category: Children’s Middle Grade Historical Fiction

    Paperback | $7.99
    Published by Yearling
    Sep 14, 2021 | 208 Pages | 5-3/16 x 7-5/8 | Middle Grade (10 and up) | ISBN 9780553534252

    Category: Children’s Middle Grade Historical Fiction

    Hardcover | $16.99
    Published by Wendy Lamb Books
    Sep 24, 2019 | 208 Pages | 5-1/2 x 8-1/4 | Middle Grade (10 and up) | ISBN 9780553534221

    Category: Children’s Middle Grade Historical Fiction

    Hardcover | $19.99
    Published by Wendy Lamb Books
    Sep 24, 2019 | 208 Pages | 5-1/2 x 8-1/4 | Middle Grade (10 and up) | ISBN 9780553534238

    Category: Children’s Middle Grade Historical Fiction

    Ebook | $6.99
    Published by Wendy Lamb Books
    Sep 24, 2019 | 208 Pages | Middle Grade (10 and up) | ISBN 9780553534245

    Category: Children’s Middle Grade Historical Fiction | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $15.00
    Published by Listening Library
    Sep 24, 2019 | 266 Minutes | Middle Grade (10 and up) | ISBN 9780593147535
    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

    Praise

    “[Budhos] portrays with nuance the ways multiracial identities, socio-economic status, microaggressions, and interracial relationships can impact and shape identity. Readers will find a powerful window into the past and, unfortunately, a way-too-accurate mirror of the present.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred

    “[A] compassionate and thoughtful depiction of families grappling daily with the inequities of a changing society.” —Publishers Weekly

    “Gracefully balances the surrounding complex issues of race, class, and equity, without losing focus on the small moments (nascent crushes, perfect outfits) that dominate the lives of her young protagonists.”—Booklist

    “A layered look at desegregation through the eyes of various characters along the color spectrum, demonstrating that things are not always black and white; it’s also a sharp take on the majority’s getting a glimpse of what it’s like to feel like an outsider.” —Bulletin

    “This engaging novel serves as a gateway for readers to learn about the issues of desegregation busing plans in the U.S. and the influence of various adults, and government decisions, in multiracial childhoods.” —The Horn Book

    Awards

    New Mexico Land of Enchantment Book Master List NOMINEE 2022

    Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year SELECTION 2020

    Looking for More Great Reads?
    21 Books You’ve Been Meaning to Read
    Get the latest updates about Marina Budhos
    And go from well-read to best read with book recs, deals and more in your inbox every week.
    And go from well-read to best read with book recs, deals and more in your inbox every week.
    By clicking “SIGN UP”, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Penguin Random House’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and understand that Penguin Random House collects certain categories of personal information for the purposes listed in that policy, discloses, sells, or shares certain personal information and retains personal information in accordance with the policy. You can opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information anytime.
    Dismiss
    Thanks!
    Something awesome is on its way.
    Back to Top

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Raise kids who love to read

    Raise kids who love to read

    Today's Top Books

    Want to know what people are actually reading right now?

     An online magazine for today’s home cook

    An online magazine for today’s home cook