Helpful Score: 1
17-year-old Clio Ford wants to make the summer before her senior year her best yet, starting with a job at the local art supply store alongside her longtime crush Ollie. Then her mother delivers the blow: she's going to Kansas on some art grant. She's taking her boyfriend with her. And Clio is relegated to spending the summer with her father aboard a boat in Italy. Her father, the man who had made her childhood perfect, but through continuous absentmindedness and impulsiveness had almost ruined them.
Things get even worse. Clio's shipmates are her dad's girlfriend Julia, an intense professor/researcher; Julia's daughter Elsa, beautiful and loyal; Martin, Clio's dad's longtime friend; and Aidan, Julia's research assistant with the arrogant attitude. And this motley crew is supposed to live together on a yacht and search for something that nobody has told Clio anything about.
Can this summer, which is shaping up to be the worst one ever, actually end with Clio finding true love, a best friend, and a better relationship with the man who had once deserted her?
Once again Maureen Johnson delivers a winner. Not much really goes on, and all the mystery surrounding the crew's mission is a bit overdone, but Johnson creates remarkably vivid characters, flavored with snappy, smart dialogue and off-handed snort-out-loud remarks. Fans of her previous books should love this one just as much.
Things get even worse. Clio's shipmates are her dad's girlfriend Julia, an intense professor/researcher; Julia's daughter Elsa, beautiful and loyal; Martin, Clio's dad's longtime friend; and Aidan, Julia's research assistant with the arrogant attitude. And this motley crew is supposed to live together on a yacht and search for something that nobody has told Clio anything about.
Can this summer, which is shaping up to be the worst one ever, actually end with Clio finding true love, a best friend, and a better relationship with the man who had once deserted her?
Once again Maureen Johnson delivers a winner. Not much really goes on, and all the mystery surrounding the crew's mission is a bit overdone, but Johnson creates remarkably vivid characters, flavored with snappy, smart dialogue and off-handed snort-out-loud remarks. Fans of her previous books should love this one just as much.
Reviewed by The Compulsive Reader for TeensReadToo.com
Clio Ford has lived an interesting life. She became famous at age 12. Her parents are divorced. And she has a tattoo, just to name a few things.
Now, forced to spend a summer with her insane father and his research team on a boat on the Mediterranean Sea, she just might go mad. Especially since she knows they're looking for something...something they refuse to tell Clio anything about.
GIRL AT SEA is simply fantastic. As usual with all of Maureen Johnson's books, the plot is unique and nothing like anything you'll find in most other teen books these days. Clio is lively, fun, adventurous, and witty.
So if you care to read about paper hats, crazy parents, big boats, weird tattoos, lost artifacts, romance, and LOTS of jellyfish, what are you waiting for? Join in on all the nautical fun! Maureen Johnson will leave you desperate for more.
Clio Ford has lived an interesting life. She became famous at age 12. Her parents are divorced. And she has a tattoo, just to name a few things.
Now, forced to spend a summer with her insane father and his research team on a boat on the Mediterranean Sea, she just might go mad. Especially since she knows they're looking for something...something they refuse to tell Clio anything about.
GIRL AT SEA is simply fantastic. As usual with all of Maureen Johnson's books, the plot is unique and nothing like anything you'll find in most other teen books these days. Clio is lively, fun, adventurous, and witty.
So if you care to read about paper hats, crazy parents, big boats, weird tattoos, lost artifacts, romance, and LOTS of jellyfish, what are you waiting for? Join in on all the nautical fun! Maureen Johnson will leave you desperate for more.
