High Dive [Hardcover]

Tammar Stein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 10, 2008

Arden has a plane ticket to Sardinia to say goodbye to her family’s beloved vacation home after her father’s sudden death and her mother’s deployment to Iraq as an army nurse. Lonely for her father and petrified for her mother’s safety, Arden dreads her trip to the house in Sardinia—the only place that has truly felt like home to her. So when she meets a group of fun, carefree, and careless friends on their summer break, she decides to put off her trip and join them to sample the sights and culinary delights of Europe. Soon they are climbing the Eiffel Tower, taking in the French countryside on a train chugging toward the Alps, and gazing at Michelangelo’s David in Florence, all the while eating gelato and sipping cappuccino. Arden tries to forget about the danger her mom faces every day, to pretend she’s just like the rest of the girls, flirting with cute European guys and worried only about where to party next.
But the house in Sardinia beckons and she has to make a choice. Is Arden ready to jump off the high dive?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6 Up— While flying to Europe, Arden, 19, meets three other college students heading for a fun-filled sightseeing tour; fairly typical Americans-in-Paris escapades ensue. But Stein goes beyond the usual in this moving novel about teens on the loose in a foreign country. Arden is more complex than many protagonists in popular teen fiction, and the fun-loving Texans she travels with are sketched with depth as supporting characters. The backstory is that Arden is on her way to close and sell her family's cherished vacation home in Sardinia after her father's death and her mother's deployment to Iraq as an Army nurse. Her inner musings are significant and subtle as she tries to make sense of the war and the loss of her dad. Readers reminisce with her as she struggles to face closing the only consistent home her small Army family has known. Paris and Italy come alive through Arden's eyes, and her sensitivity to local customs is beyond the carefree attitude her companions exhibit. In many ways, this is a quiet, introspective novel, but there is romance and laughter as well. Stein deftly portrays anguish, uncertainty, and unexpected joys, and not a moment drags as Arden's bittersweet journey unfolds. Ideal for the thoughtful armchair traveler, this story is engaging enough for readers on the long flight to the enduring wonders of Europe and emerging adulthood.—Roxanne Myers Spencer, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Tammar Stein lives with her husband in San Antonio, TX.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 201 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (June 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375830243
• ISBN-13: 978-0375830242
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.8 x 8.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,684,384 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tammar Stein is the award-winning author of the young adult novels LIGHT YEARS and HIGH DIVE. Her third novel, KINDRED, will be published February 8, 2011.

Tammar has lived in Israel, Italy, Germany and all over the United States. She currently lives in Florida with her family and bilingual dog. When she's not working, chances are she's reading, or day dreaming, or washing the dishes that seem to breed and multiply while her back is turned. Okay, not really. Really, if she's not working, she's reading.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Part travelogue, part emotional rollercoaster, August 4, 2008

By 

SZAA "Lover of All Things Written" (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: High Dive (Hardcover)

For those teens and adults that enjoy travel and awesome food descriptions with some great drama thrown into the mix, Tammar Stein's new novel is perfect. When I was first sent this book and read the description, I was instantly hooked, as I am one of those that loves a combination like this. The writing is great, the emotion is very real, and the settings are magnificent.

High Dive is the story of Arden, an incredibly mixed up and lonely girl that is incredibly talented at putting on a happy face. Her father died in a car accident and her mother has recently been deployed to Iraq to fight the war, leaving Arden to take on the task of closing up the family vacation home in Sardinia. The house holds some of Arden's best memories of her family when they were still whole, together, and happy and she is having a difficult time allowing herself to begin the letting go process. While on the plane to Sardinia, she meets three girls from Texas, traveling to Paris for a vacation and Arden decides to join them, a very non-Arden thing to do. The girls learn about each other while exploring Paris, though Arden often feels like a fourth wheel. She can't decide if these girls are helping her to let go of the thoughts of her old family life or if they are only making her long for it more. By the end, not only does Arden get the answer to this question, she also learns more about herself, her strength, and her ability to grow than she ever thought possible.

The country descriptions alone will grab the reader, but Arden's fragile emotional state is the true shining star in this book. I felt connected to her immediately and wanted to know everything she knew. Strong, yet vulnerable characters that come across as beautifully lost as Arden do not come along nearly as often as we would all like, but if you pick High Dive up for yourself or a teen, you will not be sorry. I loved it and know a lot of you will as well.

5.0 out of 5 stars Enchanting Review: High Dive, January 21, 2009

By 

Enchanting Reviews "Lisa" - See all my reviews

This review is from: High Dive (Hardcover)

HIGH DIVE
TAMMAR STEIN
Contemporary Young Adult
Knopf

Rating: 4.5 Enchantments

When her deployed mother decides to sell the family vacation property in Sardinia, it's up to Arden to travel from New York back to the house she hasn't seen since her father died to close it up and get it ready for sale. Along the way however, she meets four girls from Texas on their way to France for vacation. In a move quite unlike her, Arden abandons her plans and makes a detour to Paris for a few days she'll never forget.

Ms. Stein creates a wonderful story in HIGH DIVE. Arden is truly a great character. Dealing with life on her own, she finds herself wishing she stuck with her original travel plans when things in Paris start to go wrong. First the hostel the other girls are staying at has no more rooms and she ends up spending the night in an unseemly room across town, the only thing available in her budget. But as HIGH DIVE moves along Arden discovers more about herself and begins to come to grips with her past and her loss.

I really enjoyed HIGH DIVE. Ms. Stein paints a wonderful picture of Paris through Arden's eyes and I loved the scenes when Arden realizes she should have went along with her gut, and not her new friends ideas when she had the urge to book a room at the same hostel as them when they first arrived in the city. This is one great book that will stay on my keeper shelf!

Tammar Stein has lived in Israel, Europe and the United States. She is also the author of Light Years which was named a Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association. She currently lives in Florida with her husband and their son.

Lisa
Enchanting Reviews
June 2008