One Paris Summer

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Denise Grover Swank was born in Kansas City, Missouri and lived in the area until she was nineteen. Then she became a nomadic gypsy, living in five cities, four states and ten houses over the course of ten years before she moved back to her roots. She speaks English and smattering of Spanish and Chinese which she learned through an intensive Nick Jr. immersion period. Her hobbies include witty Facebook comments (in own her mind) and dancing in her kitchen with her children. (Quite badly if you believe her offspring.) Hidden talents include the gift of justification and the ability to drink massive amounts of caffeine and still fall asleep within two minutes. Her lack of the sense of smell allows her to perform many unspeakable tasks. She has six children and hasn't lost her sanity. Or so she leads you to believe.

Swank, author of the Rose Gardener Mystery series for adults, explores the complicated family dynamics that result from divorce. Sixteen-year-old Sophie, an aspiring pianist, and her 17-year-old brother, Eric, are a long way from forgiving their father for abandoning them to work in Paris, as well as recently remarrying. To make amends, he invites the siblings to spend the summer with him, wife Eva, and Camille, Eva's daughter, who is just as angry as Sophie and Eric are about her new family. Even the beauty of Paris isn't enough to smooth over Sophie's deep feelings of hurt toward her father, while Camille's antagonism robs Sophie of enjoying the sights and making potential new friends. Writing from Sophie's point of view, Swank handles the teen's powerful and sometimes conflicting feelings with insight and sensitivity. When tensions ease, Sophie is eventually able to open up to Paris, her father, and Mathieu, a handsome boy who invites her to practice piano at his family's apartment, in this family drama about forgiveness and starting fresh.