High Dive by Tammar Stein (author of Light Years) tackles the problem of children whose parents are deployed in a war zone overseas. Arden Vogel is 19 and an Army brat. Her mother is a nurse, deployed to Iraq. Her father was killed in an auto accident three years earlier. Arden's only contact with her mother is two 15-minute phone calls a week and their daily e-mails. In between those communications, she doesn't know whether or not her mother is alive.
On a trip to close down their vacation house in Sardinia, Arden meets up with three girls attending the University of Texas who are touring Europe. She joins them in France, an uncharacteristic action for the shy, solitary Arden.
Stein intersperses Arden's adventures with the Texans and her communications with her mother. She deftly explores the lives of Arden and her friends, showing that no one has an ideal life. The emotions of all the girls, including Arden's mother, come through. High Dive is a wonderful book on so many levels.
That's kinda cool what you said about it -- "no one has an ideal life." Gives me an idea of what it's about. Sounds good.
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