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Overview
"Show a little maturity," he said, which I've doped out to mean: Pass all your courses, avoid detection in all crimes and misdemeanors, don't get pregnant.
Celine's father has left her with these instructions. She's not too worried about the last two, but she'll fail English unless she rewrites her Catcher in the Rye essay. And she keeps being interrupted, especially by Jake, the neighbor's boy, who's been dumped on her for the weekend.
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year A Booklist Best Book of the '80s A Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of the Year
Sixteen-year-old Celine has been charged by her father to "show a little maturity, " so she can spend the summer in Italy--a visit from which she secretly plans not to return until events begin to conspire against her.
Synopsis
An "exquisite story of two loners-teenage artist Celine and seven-year-old divorce-casualty Jake-helping each other overcome despair and making a home in the city."-Starred Focus Review/Booklist.
"Vivid and intelligent...A masterful novel...Both funny and sad, it is a book to be gulped and savored."-Starred/School Library Journal
Publishers Weekly
In PW 's words, ``The typical girl-meets-boy story gets turned inside out in this witty, offbeat novel. Cole's irrepressible heroine somehow manages to get the best of almost every situation. Her wry comments on everything from modern art to divorce are as perspicacious as they are delightful.'' Ages 12-up. (Sept.)
Editorials
From the Publisher
"Vivid and intelligent."--Starred, School Library Journal
"Celine is one of the wittiest narrators to step out of the pages of young adult fiction...Her targets range from modern art to televangelism and her aim is true."--The Washington Post
"An original and disarming first-person narrative about a sixteen-year-old artist and her irresolute yearnings to find a center to her life...[A] mature, fully realized work, and one that sees an exciting author, with an authentic new voice, emerging as an important spokesman for contemporary young adults."--Starred, The Horn Book
"Start to finish, this book is a delight. It is funny, witty and poignant."--The New York Times Book Review