Hope on Wheels: A Memoir

What do you do when you're a teenager trapped in the middle of a large, dysfunctional family in a small, dying Oregon mill town and your whole life is thrust into chaos? What any rational person would do-escape, in any way you can.

For LL O'Brien, escape meant riding her bike across the country, spending three months learning about missionary work (while seeking the perfect tan) in southern Brazil, then cycling across Europe towards an epiphany at the Vatican that planted the seeds of faith and illuminated a path to liberation.

When LL O'Brien's father died suddenly in his forties-leaving his widow, nine children ranging in age from twenty-two to two, and a complicated legacy of dysfunction-her already fractured family was in danger of imploding. Inspired by the summer bicycling adventures of her high school theater teacher, her mother took six of the nine kids on a winding, 4,500-mile cross-country bike trip, starting in Oregon's Willamette Valley and ending in New York City. Along the way they discovered an inner strength and resolve that allowed them to start trusting and appreciating one another. Three years later, when four of the siblings spent a summer cycling through Europe facing ludicrous situations-such as losing a brother in Italy for two days-they began to love one another. These coming-of-age adventures gave the author renewed energy for whatever would come next, enabling her to leave her past behind and forge a future grounded in hope.

Entertaining at every turn, Hell Hope on Wheels is a roadmap for a resilient, fulfilling life.