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Description
In Girl at Sea, Clio Ford, a seventeen-year-old high-school junior, expected a summer of art lessons and a first kiss, but instead she's stuck on a yacht in the Mediterranean with her estranged father and his eccentric crew. Her dad's latest quest is to locate a missing underwater treasure that could reveal secrets of civilization, and Clio must help him navigate his reckless antics while dealing with a quirky team that includes Martin, Julia, her daughter Elsa, and the infuriatingly handsome Aidan. As she balances her desire for a normal teenage life with danger, intrigue, and unexpected romance, she discovers that getting lost at sea might be the only way to find herself.
Quick Summary
If you like books with awkward, lovable characters navigating messy family dynamics while also getting into ridiculous situations, this one's for you. Clio is the kind of protagonist who's funny and a little bit clueless in the best way she agrees to spend the summer on a yacht with a father she barely knows, which immediately tells you this won't be a relaxing vacation. The setting is gorgeous (think sun-drenched Italian coastlines), but the real heart of the story is watching Clio figure out who she is when she's not trying to be what everyone else wants. There's some genuine tension and even a little danger mixed in with the humor, so it keeps you turning pages. Fans of Sarah Dessen's family-relationship-driven stories will probably love this, though it moves a bit faster. It's a solid pick if you want something that's funny and heartfelt without being too heavy.