True Love, the Sphinx, and Other Unsolvable Riddles

December 10, 2007
Octavia and Rosie, best friends from an elite London school, meet up with their New York City counterparts, Sam and Salah, when their classes take a trip together down the Nile. Among the tombs and temples, romances blossom, but as if they were in “some sort of Shakespearean farce,” confusion quickly follows. Rosie, a gifted composer, and Egyptian-born Salah, one of the most eligible teenagers in Manhattan,” feel a definite connection, but beautiful boy-magnet Octavia swiftly claims him as her own. Readers will know that all will sort itself out by the end, or that the various misadventures will help the characters grow in important ways (outrageous Octavia will learn not to hide her family’s poverty, for example, and Salah will decide to “take fate into own hands”). The author mixes in some ancient Egyptian history with images of contemporary life on the Nile; she also adds wacky characters, including a pair of nerdy teachers who keep getting in trouble with the police, at one point being charged for drug smuggling. The four protagonists take turns narrating, although not all of them fully engage readers’ interest. Attention-seeking Octavia, for example, who calls teachers “darling” and sneaks off the boat, comes across as more bratty than fun. Even so, there is enough romance—both personal and in the details about Egypt—to fuel this light diversion. Ages 12-up.

March 1, 2008
Gr 7-11-Though they are best friends at their upscale private high school, shutter-bug Sam has always stood in the shadow of Salah, considered the most eligible teenager in Manhattan. Usually, Sam's more than happy to take Salah's cast-off "cuties" as sloppy seconds, but that changes when their class takes a field trip to Egypt, planned in conjunction with a swanky London girls' school, and Sam meets the outrageous British beauty, Octavia. What Octavia wants, Octavia gets, and she wants Salah. But all of her preening, posturing, and excessive behavior is really a distraction to hide a secret even her best friend, Rosie, doesn't know. Rosie enjoys Octavia's company, but is often exhausted by her theatrics. However, she never stood up to her best friend, until she realizes that she too wants Salah. As the teenagers explore the sites and history of Egypt and socialize aboard their river-cruise boat, the "Nefertiti", everyone is expecting Salah to hook up with Octavia, but his heart lies elsewhere. This flirty, fun romcom, told from four distinctive points of view, reads like an old-time comedy of errors. O'Connell describes Egypt with such vitality and richness that it shines as a separate character. This novel is a trip worth taking."Terri Clark, Smokey Hill Library, Centennial, CO"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2007
The author of the Calypso Chronicles series offers a single-title romance peopled with similarly posh teens. Teens Sam, Salah, Rosie, and Octavia are among the students from two exclusive high schools (Bowers School for Boys in New York and Queen Ladies College in London) who enjoy a lavish field trip on the Nile River. With both the girls and the boys living aboard The Nefertiti, the focus on historical wonders soon gives way to romantic pairings. The tension predictably builds from misunderstandings among couples and friends, the characters veer toward caricature, and the story relies on staple chick-lit ingredientsfrom designer clothes to filthy rich, physically flawlessly teens. What stands out are the solid friendships and the twists of humor in the four teens alternating narratives. Wild, impoverished aristocrat Octavia has a few British-inflected one-liners, many leveled at teachers, that readers will enjoy, and Egyptian American Salahs story adds some cultural complexity. A breezy, escapist, and relatively chaste romance for fans of the Gossip Girl books and other similar, popular fiction series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)