Heaven Is Paved with Oreos
by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
2013
201 pages
ISBN: 9780547625386

Sarah Zorn and best friend Curtis have a mutually agreed upon plan: pretend they are a couple so everyone at their school will leave them alone. Only outspoken Emily Friend (not friendly at all! ) is onto them. She teases Sarah and says she knows that they're not a couple.

Sarah's quirky, hippie grandmother Z  asks Sarah to travel to Italy with her in the summer. After some discussion, Sarah's parents reluctantly agree. Sarah records her travels, trials and tribulations in this journal. When Curtis finds out Sarah is leaving for Italy, he is upset and they do not speak to each other before she departs.

In Italy, Sarah and Z visit numerous outdoor caffes (cafes) and drink delicious Italian coffees and eat gelato. They visit cathedrals, fountains and ruins. Sarah reports each place and how she would describe it to Curtis if she sent him a post card. She doesn't. Each day, the two travelers visit another church and are "pilgrims." Sarah can't believe how much walking they are doing. They fall into bed exhausted each night.

Grandma Z becomes sad on her birthday and Sarah doesn't know why. When a family secret is finally spilled, Sarah is shocked. This is the real reason they came all the way to Italy? On a whim....from the past? Returning home, Sarah and Z have to unravel the past to claim the present.

Z is fun and feisty; a free spirit from the golden days of hippie-dom. She tends to live her life in the moment--which is great--until it effects the people around you. Sarah is supposed to be fourteen and off to her first year of high school, but she seems quite sheltered and younger than fourteen years old.

Recommended for grade 7-up and anyone who likes a sweet read. Italy comes alive in the pages of Sarah's journal.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review. 

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Fiction Pick: Changeling

Changeling (Order of Darkness, Book 1)
by Phillipa Gregory
Simon Pulse
2012
256 pages

In book one, we meet Luca Vero, a wonderfully hot hero who is expelled from his monastery and sent on a journey across Europe to witness the greatest fears of the "end of times." Luca must investigate when the church hears of evil in its midst.

He arrives at the Abbey of Lucretill (near Rome) to investigate the "madness" among the nuns. One sister has bleeding palms and sleepwalks; others can't sleep at all. All of them are fearful that demons are among them.

Isolde is sent away from her castle by her brother; he takes control of their inheritance--Isolde is, after all, only a girl, not someone who can inherit. She is told that her father wanted her to enter the church and never marry. She becomes the Abbess of Lucretill and travels with her mysterious servant to the abbey's walls.

Soon, Luca must interview the nuns about the strange happenings in the abbey; first, he must have the Abbess's permission. He is intrigued by this young abbess who hides her face in the gloom. Further, he wants to get to the bottom of the mysterious and evil doings.

A compelling secret is discovered on the lands owned by the abbey and Luca has a pretty good idea of who is hiding it. He investigates his hunch helped by Isolde. What they find will threaten the abbey and Isolde's life.

Books two and three promise to develop more of a romance between the two main characters. While Isolde is meek and pliable in book one, Gregory reminds readers in the author's note that Isolde is a typical girl of this time. A girl whose future lies at the hands of her father and brother. I wish the author's note was at the beginning of the book for teen readers to understand why Isolde has such a meek character. She's forced into a life she didn't choose and she seems to just go along with it; which is what any girl of her time would naturally do. At the end of Changeling, Isolde chooses her future for herself, and female readers will applaud.

Highly recommended for mature readers who love history. Rich in detail and brilliantly researched, Changeling will have its fans among those who love the middle ages and European history. Some mature content, no language.

Grades 9-up. A lot of church history and tradition.