Eat and Get Gas, is a powerful story about a sad chapter in America’s history that is modern, relevant and inspiring.

EAT AND GET GAS
A novel by J.A. Wright

Thirteen-year-old Evan Hanson is always the last in her family to know what's going on; at least, that's how it feels. When her brother gets drafted to Vietnam, her anti-war mother takes him to Canada, leaving Evan and her younger, special needs brother with their army-officer father—who, unwilling to shoulder the burden of caring for his kids, takes them to their grandmother's roadside cafe and home. At Eat and Get Gas, Evan becomes acquainted with the cast of characters that inhabit the property and its surroundings: her grandmother, a no-nonsense and loving matriarchal figure; Aunt Vivian, a know-it-all who teases everyone mercilessly but always comes through in a pinch; Uncle Frankie, who returned from Vietnam after being injured in combat and risks everything to help his war buddy…

  • J.A. Wright’s uncanny ability to place the reader at the very center of 13-year-old Evan’s head captured me, from page 1.

    Evoking 1970s America and the long reach of the Vietnam War, Evan’s confused, loyal, angry, lonely and forgiving coming-of-age as she finds her place in the heart of a colorful cast of characters at Eat and Get Gas kept me from sleep right up to the perfectly pitched ending. –

    Jenni Ogden, award-winning author of A Drop in the Ocean, and Call My Name.

  • Storytelling at its best, 'Eat and Get Gas' grabs the reader from page one and doesn’t let go

    Daily, life confirms for Evan that people can disappoint us even when they love us. But she has three things going for her: soothing music from the pianists next door, the skating rink, and a honeybee bracelet. The unexpected twist at the end is oh-so-worth the wait!

    Laurie Buchanan, author of the Sean McPherson novels

  • Great cast of characters

    A Great cast of characters, a compelling story, and convincingly told.

    Joe Bennett, New Zealand columnist and travel writer

  • Complex and memorable characters are at the heart of this intriguing narrative

    Family, politics, and survival drive this page-turner caught in the turbulent times of the Vietnam war. Throw in DB Cooper and you’ve got one exciting novel! Well done!

    Marianne Lile, author of Stepmother - A Memoir

How to Grow an Addict
A novel by J.A. Wright

Randall Grange has been tricked into admitting herself into a treatment center and she doesn't know why.She's not a party hound like the others in her therapy group but then again - she knows she can't live without pills or booze.

Raised by an abusive father, a detached mother, and a loving aunt and uncle, Randall both loves and hates her life. She's awkward and a misfit. Her parents introduced her to alcohol and tranquilizers at a young age, ensuring that her teenage years would be full of bad choices, and by the time she's twenty-three, she's a full-blown drug addict, well acquainted with the miraculous power chemicals have to cure just about any problem she could possibly have and she’s in more trouble than she’s ever known was possible.

  • I fell for Randall Grange in the first line: "I still can't figure it out. How the therapist persuaded me to stay in rehab."

    A dark, ultimately hopeful story that reveals how a young, female addict is grown (starting with a mean, drunk dad, an equally mean brother, and a distant, damaged mother).

    And then we go back in time to see how Randall ends up drinking and popping pills before she's turned fifteen. Randall's story isn't sugar-coated, but throughout her voice is strong. Even in her darkest moments as an addict, I cared enormously about her welfare. I think this would be a great read for a book club.

    Barbara Claypole White, author of The Perfect Son

  • This book made me laugh many times out loud but always broke my insides open with tears

    J.A. Wright speaks to my heart with her frank, in-depth and vivid writing shot through with razor emotions. This book made me laugh many times out loud but always broke my insides open with tears.

    Anne Goldmann, artist

  • A tremendous book about the resilience of the human spirit. Highly recommend!

    It's hard to say how much you enjoyed a book about a 7 year old growing into addiction, but this book is impressive.

    As a reader, you are immediately drawn into the character's family life and her immediate world that she attempts to navigate alone from a young age. You walk with her as she makes good decisions, bad decisions and every choice in between. It is a raw and emotionally powerful story about failing a child. But it is also a tremendous book about the resilience of the human spirit. Highly recommend!

    Marianne H. Lile, author

  • I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning reading this

    It's riveting and I couldn’t close the book without knowing how it ends. Dysfunction, chaos, loss, survival, and resiliency are elements that serve to tighten the screws in this gut-wrenching portrayal of recovery that will break your heart wide open.

    Laurie Buchanan, author

  • Wright has written a book I believe will help a lot of people understand they are not alone

    How to Grow an Addict...took me 5 hours to read. I could not/would not put it down. I am not sure Wright could have created a more realistic and authentic look inside a dysfunctional family.... Wright has written a book I believe will help a lot of people understand they are not alone. I am giving it 5 stars because I almost felt as if I was reading a memoir rather than fiction. I will be following J.A. Wright's work from here on out."

    Carmen Blankenship

  • “I know a lot about trouble. Mostly about causing it and not much about staying out of it.”

    In a voice that resonates with the little girl, Scout Finch, from To Kill a Mockingbird, the reader sees through Randall Grange’s eyes the child’s world of constructing values, making sense of what doesn’t have any sense, and realizing there are people to trust and those you can’t. Author Jodi Wright gives this little girl such courage and heart, as we put together the clues which sends her into the cyclone of early adulthood. How to Grow an Addict allows us to see Randall dive down the precipice of addiction and back up into the light. Well executed indeed!

    Diana Paul, author