High Dive

Arden has a plane ticket to Sardinia to say goodbye to her family's beloved vacation home after her father's sudden death and her mother's deployment to Iraq as an army nurse. Lonely for her father and petrified for her mother's safety, Arden dreads her trip to the house in Sardinia--the only place that has truly felt like home to her. So when she meets a group of fun, carefree, and careless friends on their summer break, she decides to put off her trip and join them to sample the sights and culinary delights of Europe. Soon they are climbing the Eiffel Tower, taking in the French countryside on a train chugging toward the Alps, and gazing at Michelangelo's David in Florence, all the while eating gelato and sipping cappuccino. Arden tries to forget about the danger her mom faces every day, to pretend she's just like the rest of the girls, flirting with cute European guys and worried only about where to party next.

But the house in Sardinia beckons and she has to make a choice. Is Arden ready to jump off the high dive?

TAMMAR STEIN is the author of Light Years, a 2006 ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and Kindred. She lives in Florida with her husband and two children.