Golden November books guarantee readers a fun read and Leaving Milestoneville is no different. This latest installment of the Milestoneville series opens with Click Clack and his wife Bridgette taking a trip out of Milestoneville while reminiscing about old times and how they had met some of the most prominent individuals in the city. As the narrative switches back and forth in time, readers get a glimpse of some of the most popular characters of the series who came across Click Clack, perhaps the most influential member of the community. Click Clack and Bridgette find themselves in a city where an author named Golden November is throwing a party to celebrate his famous book series. To Click Clack's surprise, November's book series is based on the people of Milestoneville. Meanwhile, G and JBT set off in search of Click Clack and Bridgette.Golden November's books have always felt more like screenplays than novels, which gives the stories a unique flavor you don't necessarily find in a traditional novel. I don't think I've read many fictional works where the author inserts himself into the story - if any. The narrative employs a sense of humor that makes these books all the more fun to read. All the characters have some odd quirks or idiosyncrasies, but they match the tone of the narrative and make the story feel organic and authentic. Leaving Milestoneville felt genuinely amusing and refreshing. If you're someone who loves experimental storytelling styles, you're going to love this series and its characters

Leaving Milestoneville by Golden November is the newest release of the growing Milestoneville series, which follows a fictional group of residents and those they come in contact with both in and out of the namesake town. Lovers of the series need not worry that our favorite characters are leaving the town for good but are setting off on another riotous adventure to a jungle resort. The catch? They have to walk through a gorilla and lion-infested landscape to get there from the place and, of course, they get lost. The lead-up to this is a string of individual scenes that tug the overall story along in vignettes. These range from Click Clack revealing his skills at creating origami out of cash, a subway ride with Slick Nick, Super Vick, and Money Mick, and the encroaching of selfie culture that almost costs Asterick a lovely drink.

Written in Golden November's signature format, Leaving Milestoneville is a book comprised of short lines meant to be read out loud by groups of readers, each of whom speaks for one or more of the characters. The lines are dialogue only and usually limited to between one and three sentences to keep the pace quick and highlight November's skill of hit-and-run zingers. The Milestoneville crowd is continually embarking on 'mystery' vacations and ending up in completely obscure locations. The tradition carries on here but not before we are given the opportunity to catch up with the cast in their own familiar space. I really love how November uses photography to set a scene and, as a fan of their work, there is a bizarre comfort in seeing a lot of carryover from other books. For example, whenever we settle down as actors on the plane it is usually the same as for every trip, at least from the interior. I swear I now know exactly where to sit if I stumble across it in real life. Leaving Milestoneville is another great addition to the November collection.

Golden November gifts us with another book in their expansive collection and has named it Leaving Milestoneville. The book is written in the voices of the characters without narrative, so the story is never better than when it is acted out. This does not require pantomime or theatre skills. As a family, we like to sit around a table, select our characters, and dive in with the lines. November pokes fun at the characters by putting them in situations where art does imitate life and then reverts to life imitating art by writing scenes where, for example, the Milestoneville characters are reading lines. So basically, November has us reading lines of characters reading lines...and for the first time I can recall, Golden November is actually a character in the book as well!

With characters buying, selling, and often hunting down rare books, the bookstore has been a consistent theme in Golden November's series, and this continues in Leaving Milestoneville. I chuckled when November enters a bookstore and says, “This is the only store where my original edition novels are sold.” It says a lot when a ten-year-old laughs knowing what the author did there, and that's when you know an entire family has become addicted to the Milestoneville crew. I might have walked away from the reading of the book feeling better if that same child didn't spend the next couple of days learning more about what 'squatting' is, but if a book can entertain and unintentionally educate, it's a keeper!