Heart and Salsa

HEART AND SALSA by Suzanne Nelson
Category: Contemporary
Age Recommendation: Grades 6+
Release Date: 6/1/06
Publisher: Puffin
Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce
Rating: 4 Stars

This installment in the S.A.S.S. series features Caitlin Wilcox, a student who is spending her summer in Mexico with the
Students Across the Seven Seas program. Cat can't wait to spend time in Mexico, with its sunshine and clear blue ocean, to
reunite with her best friend Sabrina, after spending the past few months with her mom and new stepdad in Boston rather than
her sunny former home of New Mexico, and to practice her Spanish, a language she loves. Nothing, however, turns out as
planned.

Sabrina has brought along her boyfriend, Brian, whose existence Cat hadn't even known of, and it's more difficult than it
should be for Cat to get some face time with her best friend. Luckily, Cat quickly begins to make new friends; Aidan,
Rachel, and Pete are all friendly fellow students. Even Izzie, Cat's host sister with whom she gets off to a rather rocky start
with, turns into a friend. Spending her days building a school for orphans in the hot, humid weather of Oaxaca will be tough,
but it'll be a lot of fun, especially with great friends!

When they're not working on the school, the students are doing their learning by traveling to nearby rain forests and
museums. Cat and her friends are having a lot of fun, but she can't help but wish she had more time with Sabrina. Cat's even
starting to suspect that Brian isn't as great as he seems, but she couldn't raise that issue with Sabrina...right? Cat's got her
own boy troubles as well. Are she and Aidan just friends, or is there more to it than Cat would like to admit?

HEART AND SALSA is a fun read that will have readers wishing to escape to sunny Mexico right along with Cat! It's full
of adventure in a foreign country, likeable characters, and romance. Cat is a character to whom readers will be able to
relate, especially anyone who has ever had to move away from friends and family. The only reason Cat's mother agreed to
let her go to Mexico was because they had just moved to Boston from New Mexico a few months ago, and adjusting is
tough for Cat. While Suzanne Nelson's book is an entertaining, quick read, it's not particularly remarkable; it won't earn a
place on my favorites shelf, but it was certainly worth reading!