The Porcupine of Truth by Bill Konigsberg

What a name for a novel, right?  How can you not read a book with a title like that?  It sucked me in, and I am glad that it did.  This book was a fun adventure starting at the zoo in Billings, Montana and ending up in San Francisco.  Along that journey, both Carson and Aisha are in search of different things, from family history to acceptance to God.  Watching their evolution both as people and as friends was well worth the journey.

From Amazon:

The author of OPENLY STRAIGHT returns with an epic road trip involving family history, gay history, the girlfriend our hero can't have, the grandfather he never knew, and the Porcupine of Truth.

Carson Smith is resigned to spending his summer in Billings, Montana, helping his mom take care of his father, a dying alcoholic he doesn't really know. Then he meets Aisha Stinson, a beautiful girl who has run away from her difficult family, and Pastor John Logan, who's long held a secret regarding Carson's grandfather, who disappeared without warning or explanation thirty years before. Together, Carson and Aisha embark on an epic road trip to find the answers that might save Carson's dad, restore his fragmented family, and discover the "Porcupine of Truth" in all of their lives.