High Dive by Tammar Stein

In Sardinia lies Arden Vogel family’s beloved vacation home. After her father’s sudden death and her mother’s deployment to Iraq Arden, has to go to Sardinia to close the house. She is apprehensive about the whole trip.

But on the plane to her destination she meets three vivacious Texan girls Katie, Madison and Lola who are all headed to Paris. When they suggest Arden to come to Paris with them she agrees. Her days are filled with amazing adventures to sight-seeing places and restaurants with authentic food. But this is not enough for Arden to forget the constant danger her mother has to face every day as an army nurse.

High Dive was a fun read with the various places the girls visited. I felt like I was with them climbing the Effel Tower, looking up at Michelangelo’s David, and sampling the exotic cuisines. The author also did a great job making the readers aware, through Arden and her mother, of the conflicting feelings families experience when their loved ones are in the army.

Each character's emotions and actions are portrayed realistically. The book is fast and fun book, yet still manages to capture the sacrifices the troops in Iraq and their families have to make.