Sometimes you have to get lost...
The Girl: Clio, seventeen, wants to spend the summer smooching her art-store crush, not stuck on a boat in the Mediterranean. At least she'll get a killer tan.
The Mission: Survive her father's annoying antics. Oh, also find some underwater treasure that could be the missing link to a long lost civilization.
The Crew: Dad's absentminded best friend Marlin, his scary girlfriend Julia, her voluptuous daughter Elsa... and then there's Aidan, Julia's incredibly attractive, incredibly arrogant research assistant. What's going on behind Aidan's intellectual, intensely green eyes, anyway?
As Clio sails into uncharted territory she unveils secrets that have the power to change history. But her most surprising discover is that there's something deeper and more mysterious than the sea--her own heart.
...to find what you're looking for.*
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A summer on the Mediterranean. Sounds great, right? Now add in the other factors - being almost completely shut out from all civilization: no phone, no computer, almost nothing. The "crew" from above. No drawing because the boat is too shaky. And the guess that another art store worker is busy with her art store crush. - and you get Clio's summer.
At the very beginning of the book (the first, like, 10 pages), I didn't think that it was quite my cup of tea. But, as I wasn't very far in, I figured that it'd pick up at least a little bit. Just a little bit more, and it started to pick up. A little more than that, and I was hooked. It took a little bit to get to it, there was romance, drama, and amazinggg adventure.
Each character had crazy defining characteristics, and I don't think that there was a single "normal" character in the book. Normally, I would think of this as overkill - just way too much ridiculousness, and, quite frankly, I generally lose track of who has what going on for the first half [or so] of the book - but Maureen Johnson made it work perfectly; I didn't get the people or their quirks mixed around at all.
As the novel was in first person, I got a first hand experience of everything that Clio felt, and I found myself feeling the same way she did. I felt anger at her mom, disappointment about the trip, more anger towards her dad, frustration with not being able to communicate with the outside world, confusion about Aidan, determination, a bit of happiness, and even more.
Long story short, it was good... really good; I most definitely recommend it. Go pick up a copy and get ready to travel to a crazy adventure on the Mediterranean Sea that explores anything and everything that can happen on a boat.
Rating: 9.2/10
Age Range: Young Adult
Genre: General Fiction/Realistic Fiction
Publication Date: May 29, 2007
Publisher: HarperTeen
*summary from inside flap
-SilverLining
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