Girl at Sea

Sometimes youhave 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.

TheMission: 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 Martin, 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 discovery is that there's something deeper and more mysterious than the sea—her own heart.

"'When Clio was a kid, she invented a popular adventure board game with her father, which allowed them to live an adventurous life that included trips to Peru, Greece and Japan. But after the money disappeared and Clio had a scuba diving accident (her father allowed her to get a tattoo over her scar), her parents fought nightly and eventually 'sat down to tell her that sometimes parents don't get along and can't be married anymore.' Now years later, circumstances throw 17-year-old Clio and her estranged father together for another adventure, this time aboard his luxury yacht; he has assembled a strange crew, including his archaeologist professor girlfriend and her cute young assistant, Aidan, to embark on a mysterious expedition. The author masterfully weaves together plenty of plot points, from the unresolved tension between Clio and her father, to the strange attraction between Clio and Aidan, which at times 'practically crackled.' Flashbacks to another adventurous father and daughter more than 100 years before add depth to the story and provide clues to the crew's secret mission. Spirited Clio is immensely personable and witty and Johnson (Devilish) paints her summer at sea vividly, including well-crafted descriptions of everything from a scuba dive through a shipwreck to a touching father-daughter reconciliation. Ages 12-up. (June)' Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

From the critically acclaimed author of "13 Little Blue Envelopes" comes the story of 16-year-old Clio's life-changing journey aboard her scientist father's ship, where she falls for an alluring researcher, stumbles upon an archaeological revelation, and finally makes amends with her dad.

Maureen Johnson is the author of The Key to the Golden Firebird, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, The Bermudez Triangle, and Devilish. She lives in New York City.