The List Goes On
by Jessica Sadler
Thank you for joining us on the High Plains Public Radio Station. My name is Jessica Sadler. I can usually be found in a secondary science classroom, but I am currently a Teacher Professional Development Fellow at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. I am here with the other book leaders to discuss The American Dream? A Journey on Route 66 by Shing Yin Khor.
This nostalgic graphic novel takes place in several states, from California to Illinois, that make up the iconic Route 66. The author recounts her and her trusty companion, Bug’s, journey camping and cruising some of the sites that make up the tales of America’s past. This novel has been selected to explore the 2026 Spring Reader’s theme: Route 66 – 100 Years on the Mother Road.
While I have not followed Route 66 in its entirety, I felt a connection to this book having been to every state Khor visited, with the added bonus of living in three of them. Spending a large crunch of my life in Oklahoma, I have fond memories of the Blue Whale and sitting on the back of my dad’s motorcycle doing wheelies on the 11th street bridge in Tulsa. As a child, I would say my version of the American Dream was routed in the silliness, I still regularly use my blue whale coaster with a smile.
If you asked me to fully critique Route 66 and the American dream from my adult perspective, I would put my childhood nostalgia aside and see it more like a pyramid scheme with a “here today gone tomorrow” tagline. At its roots, the American Dream is really about getting ahead and plays on the human desire to not be lazy. If you are able to “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” you should be able to have a house, land, job, family, car, money, and the list goes on.
Following that mentality, roadside business and scenic stops a plenty begin dotting the areas where travelers will stop, stay, and spend. This plan doesn’t factor in for cultural sensitivity. The section on Arizona highlights this in undertones that are VERY prevalent today. “Meteor City Trading Post…made in China dream catchers.” and a “teepee made from two-by-fours and roofing shingles.” The nonnative eye sees the appeal to make a dollar and plays on it, backed by the ideology of the “American Dream.”
With my work in public education, I am often at the center of fundraising, asking for school supplies, and searching for grants. Sometimes I wonder if this is because the dollar not the mind is what is often celebrated in the dream of getting ahead. Of the eight states touched by Route 66, only two are ranked in the top half (Illinois-17 and MO- 24), while half are in the bottom to last (TX- 40, OK- 48, NM- 49, AZ- 51; D.C. was included in this list making the total 51).
I have often worked 2-3 additional jobs on top of teaching, experiencing fascinating interactions of students going out to have a meal with their families and I have been their waitress. While my heart will always have a soft spot for the “Blue Whale of Catoosa” and childhood memories of Route 66, my boots are fully cinched and the American Dream is cutting off circulation in adulthood.
I love the message and impact the author has with this graphic novel. I felt myself really mirroring the initial joy, the questioning in the middle, and the overall reflection of completing her journey.
I am exceedingly happy it was selected for this Spring’s theme: Route 66 – 100 Years on the Mother Road and would encourage listeners to take a look. This is Jessica Sadler, and you are listening to the High Plains Public Radio Reader’s Book Club.
