Girl At Sea

Fiction by Maureen Johnson
Reviewed by Monica R.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Not in the NVHS Collection as of this post

Clio Ford has everything planned perfectly. She’s going to spend her summer working at Galaxy, an art store near her house. Not only will this satisfy her artsy obsession, she’s also become work partners with Ollie, her crush-at-first-sight when he’d been ringing up her purchases at Galaxy a while back. Now they were friends and Clio was determined to make their relationship develop into something even more...

Then suddenly all of Clio’s plans are crashing down. Her mother has just informed her of a project her job has offered in Kansas. But Clio has to go with her father to Italy on a cruise ship… Although this sounds interesting and exciting, being with her father is Clio’s worst nightmare. Wild Ben Ford is the reason Clio’s childhood was never normal and happy. His knack for spending too much and failing to see boundaries to his adventures has hurt Clio and her mother more than once, causing the divorce in the first place. But now Clio has to spend the summer with her father in Italy, on a cruise ship, with 3 other strangers and her father’s friend Martin.

Right off Clio makes friends with the gorgeous blonde Elsa (who is her age), and enemies with arrogant Aidan, Julia’s (Elsa’s mother) assistant in archaeology. Although at first the trip is intolerable for Clio, as she constantly aches for the internet and a phone to call Ollie and her mother, soon Clio discovers that the adults and Aidan are keeping something from her. They are doing whatever they can to make sure she does not figure out what they are up to; this, however, just makes Clio more determined to solve this mystery.

In Girl at Sea, Clio must decide where her heart really lies, if she’s past forgiving her father, and if she can tough up and survive the summer.

I think that Maureen Johnson is an excellent author, and this novel demonstrates Johnson’s ability to hook and capture the reader. I never once wanted to put this book down and when I did, I thought about it the entire time I was unable to read. Boring does not exist in this story. I loved the enticing romance, thrilling action, and exhilarating mystery. I promise that if you enjoy all three of those, this book is going to blow you away.