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Love & Olives

ebook
1 of 2 copies available
1 of 2 copies available
A New York Times Bestseller

From the New York Times bestselling author of Love & Gelato comes a Mamma Mia!–inspired tale about a teen girl finding romance while trying to connect with her absent father in beautiful Santorini, Greece.
Liv Varanakis doesn't have a lot of fond memories of her father, which makes sense—he fled to Greece when she was only eight. What Liv does remember, though, is their shared love for Greek myths and the lost city of Atlantis. So when Liv suddenly receives a postcard from her father explaining that National Geographic is funding a documentary about his theories on Atlantis—and will she fly out to Greece and help?—Liv jumps at the opportunity.

But when she arrives to gorgeous Santorini, things are a little...awkward. There are so many questions, so many emotions that flood to the surface after seeing her father for the first time in years. And yet Liv doesn't want their past to get in the way of a possible reconciliation. She also definitely doesn't want Theo—her father's charismatic so-called "protégé"—to witness her struggle.

And that means diving into all that Santorini has to offer—the beautiful sunsets, the turquoise water, the hidden caves, and the delicious cuisine. But not everything on the Greek island is as perfect as it seems. Because as Liv slowly begins to discover, her father may not have invited her to Greece for Atlantis, but for something much more important.
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    • School Library Journal

      September 1, 2020

      Gr 7 Up-Welch, the author of Love & Gelato and Love & Luck, introduces readers to Greek American Liv, short for Olive, who is off to Santorini before her senior year of high school to see her father who wants her to help him find Atlantis. When Liv's dad left when she was eight, he left behind 26 items. Each chapter is introduced with a different item and what it meant to him. This creative touch allows readers to understand her father, despite his absence and obsession with the lost city of Atlantis. Liv is not only concerned for her dad but also for her boyfriend, Dax, and a young man, Theo, who she meets at her dad's bookstore. Liv has many adventures with her dad and grapples with feelings for Theo as well as Dax before she learns that the truth behind her dad's preoccupation with searching for Atlantis is much deeper than it appears. Boyfriend Dax is described as white; Theo's ethnicity is unspecified, though he is described as having skin darker than Liv's. VERDICT Readers who enjoy a light romance and adventurous travel will want to pick this one up.-Karen Alexander, Lake Fenton H.S., Linden, MI

      Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Kirkus

      September 15, 2020
      Recurring nightmares remind Olive--who has carved out a new, post-dad identity as Liv--about why she doesn't talk about her father anymore. The symbolism of dreaming about drowning while searching for the lost city of Atlantis, a mission her father, Nico Varanakis, has dedicated his life to, is impossible to ignore. His kitschy postcards, which suddenly started arriving two years ago, only make her feel worse. His latest is an invitation to visit him in Greece, and she is quick to decline. But at her mother's insistence that she try to reconnect with him, Liv finds herself in beautiful Santorini, joining her father's filmmaking crew and sharing a bunk in a bookstore with his assistant, Theo--a Greek teenager who charms her instantly. They are working on a documentary detailing Nico's Atlantean theories for National Geographic, an endeavor Liv finds both exciting and panic-inducing. Her recounting throughout of the 26 items her father left behind when he walked away from their family, and which Liv secreted in a shoebox under her bed, provides insight into his imprint on her memory, but their impending reconciliation requires a deeper dive and Liv has always stayed at the surface when it comes to Nico. The search for Atlantis and information about Greek philosophers add interest to the sweet, if at times predictable, story. There is a little diversity among the non-Greek supporting cast. A summery, romantic getaway. (Fiction. 12-16)

      COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
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Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:5.2
  • Lexile® Measure:730
  • Interest Level:9-12(UG)
  • Text Difficulty:3-4

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