Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

Twelve-year-old Bicycle secretly takes off from Washington, D.C., on her steadfast bike, Clunk, and heads to San Francisco by herself to find her bike-racing hero, Zbig—and, hopefully, her first real friend.Brought up at the Mostly Silent Monastery since she was 3 and home-schooled there, Bicycle understands that loving (and indomitable) Sister Wanda has signed her up for the Friendship Factory Spring Break Special for her own good. But it sounds like a "guaranteed nightmare"; introverted and reflective, with a penchant for wordplay, she needs to seek friends in her own way. In this impressive debut, Uss deftly mixes in elements of fantasy, magic, and mystery—a chatty ghost that haunts Clunk's handlebars, a second bike that can write and launch missiles, a creepy lady in black with "eyes that freeze your heart"—while always remaining true to the reality of Bicycle's journey. The author, a cross-country bicyclist herself, perfectly captures the rhythms of day-to-day life on the road: the joy, the hardships ("But everything is just so…big. Crazy-hilly and big!"), the growing sense of freedom and accomplishment, the stick-to-itiveness, the great hunger and the delicious food that relieves it, the kind people, and the bonding with one's bike. Though it has a substantial cast of quirky supporting characters, the book's default is white.Readers will eagerly join Bicycle and "pedal headfirst" into this terrific adventure, which is chock-full of heart and humor. (map) (Fabulism. 8-12)

ALA Booklist

Uss uses her cross-country cycling experience as an inspiration for her pleasantly peculiar debut novel. Bicycle is perfectly content with her quiet, often solitary life at the Mostly Silent Monastery, where the monks only say eight words. But when her guardian Sister Wanda worries that Bicycle's life is too solitary, and sends her to the Friendship Factory summer camp, Bicycle escapes on her beloved bike, traveling from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco. Along the way, Bicycle befriends many colorful characters, including a Civil War ghost, a fried-pie entrepreneur, and the inventor of a sentient bike. Uss fills Bicycle's journey west with authentic descriptions of American landmarks, deserts, sunflower fields, and mountains, which makes even the most fantastical elements of the story feel real. The humor and warmth of the strangers Bicycle meets along the way makes the long journey coast along at a quick pace. Readers who enjoy action and adventure with a dose of magic will happily go along for the ride.

Horn Book

A twelve-year-old orphan girl called Bicycle, raised by a retired nun, cycles solo from Washington, DC, to San Francisco. The odyssey is part travelogue, but mainly the road-trip story's tone is cartoonish, with absurd adults, silly villains, broad satire, and coincidences galore. Beneath the hullaballoo is a heartfelt celebration of the zen of cycling and a sympathetic portrait of an atypical kid who struggles with the art of friendship.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Twelve-year-old Bicycle secretly takes off from Washington, D.C., on her steadfast bike, Clunk, and heads to San Francisco by herself to find her bike-racing hero, Zbig—and, hopefully, her first real friend.Brought up at the Mostly Silent Monastery since she was 3 and home-schooled there, Bicycle understands that loving (and indomitable) Sister Wanda has signed her up for the Friendship Factory Spring Break Special for her own good. But it sounds like a "guaranteed nightmare"; introverted and reflective, with a penchant for wordplay, she needs to seek friends in her own way. In this impressive debut, Uss deftly mixes in elements of fantasy, magic, and mystery—a chatty ghost that haunts Clunk's handlebars, a second bike that can write and launch missiles, a creepy lady in black with "eyes that freeze your heart"—while always remaining true to the reality of Bicycle's journey. The author, a cross-country bicyclist herself, perfectly captures the rhythms of day-to-day life on the road: the joy, the hardships ("But everything is just so…big. Crazy-hilly and big!"), the growing sense of freedom and accomplishment, the stick-to-itiveness, the great hunger and the delicious food that relieves it, the kind people, and the bonding with one's bike. Though it has a substantial cast of quirky supporting characters, the book's default is white.Readers will eagerly join Bicycle and "pedal headfirst" into this terrific adventure, which is chock-full of heart and humor. (map) (Fabulism. 8-12)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

When a three-year-old girl in a faded pink t-shirt with the word bicycle on it shows up at the Mostly Silent Monastery in Washington, D.C., Sister Wanda takes her in. The girl-s fondness for the word leads Sister Wanda to give her the unusual moniker for a name, and Bicycle eventually acquires a bike of her own, a hefty orange number named Clunk. When Bicycle is 12, Sister Wanda worries about her lack of friends and arranges to send her to sleepaway camp at the Friendship Factory (-Three Guaranteed Friendships or Your Money Back-). Bicycle refuses and takes to the road with Clunk instead, mapping a route to San Francisco to meet her hero, Polish cycling racer Zbig, at the Blessing of the Bicycles. Along the way, she picks up a talkative ghost, procures a bike that can launch missiles and write, and flees from a woman in black. She also cultivates friend after friend, one mile at a time, as the story elegantly blends elements of mystery, adventure, and fantasy. Debut author Uss, a long-distance cyclist herself, effectively portrays the call-and toll-of self-reliance and the open road, and fashions a resolute heroine to root for. Ages 8-12. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary. (June)