Heart and Salsa (S.A.S.S. Series)

by Suzanne Nelson, Jeanine Henderson (Illustrator)

Overview

Cat Wilcox has left chilly Boston for sunny Mexico and a summer of girl bonding with her best friend, Sabrina. But Sabrina has a surprise. She is accompanied by her boyfriend—a boyfriend Cat didn’t even know existed. So rather than Sabrina and Cat spending their study-abroad semester working together at the orphan school building site, Cat expects she’ll be hammering nails all by her lonesome. Then she meets Aidan. He’s cute, he’s smart, and he’s paying her a lot of attention. Cat can’t tell if he’s flirting or friendly, but she’s not sure it matters. Isn’t it easier to be just friends? But this is enchanted Mexico and, between hiking in the rain forest, diving off waterfalls, and finishing the orphan center, it’s going to take a little bit of salsa spirit, and a lot of heart, for Cat to make it through the summer unchanged.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780142406472
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	06/01/2006
Series:	S.A.S.S. Series
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.58(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Suzanne Nelson is an author and editor who loves Mexican food, especially cheese enchiladas. She is still grateful to her parents for making her take five years of Spanish in school, because now she'll never forget what chapulines are. She is known for her foodie romance middle grade novels, including Cake Pop Crush, Macarons at Midnight, and Hot Cocoa Hearts. She was born in New Jersey, grew up in Southern California, attended college in Texas, and spent eight years as a children's book editor in New York City. She now lives in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 7-10-Cat's mother has remarried, forcing her family to move from Scottsdale, AZ, to Boston, where the teen can't seem to make connections. She hates the weather, she refuses to resume her old sport of diving, and her friends are dropping off the map. Then her best friend, Sabrina, offers up a summer trip to Oaxaca, Mexico, for Spanish credit, and Cat jumps at the chance to get away. Once they arrive, however, Sabrina surprises her by having a boyfriend along, preventing the girls from finding those much-needed moments for reconnection. Refusing to let this get in her way, Cat makes new friends, absorbs the environment around her, takes in the cultural studies, and gets to know her host family. In branching out, she also realizes that things in Boston aren't nearly as toxic as she originally thought. She returns home with a new perspective and a more positive attitude. At times the characters seem cardboard and their actions forced, but overall this is appropriate light summer reading for the chick-lit crowd.-Emily Garrett, Naaman Forest High School, Garland, TX Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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