Eleven-year-old Lily and her 13-year-old brother are staying on a Greek island when another American boy comes along and disrupts their lives.

Twelve year old Lily Corey, her older brother Paul and their parents have traveled to a remote island near Greece and made the town of Thasos their temporary home. Staying in a land where they know little of the language has brought the siblings closer together than they had ever been in Massachusetts until fate introduces them to Jack and everything changes. As much as Lily resents the bitter Jack for taking her bother's attention away, she also pities him for his lonely life. When the summer for the Coreys draws to a close, tragedy strikes in a way that will change the town that Lily has come to love forever.

I think the thing that struck me the most about this story was the setting. The author set the scene of the beautiful Greek island, unspoiled by many of the modern conveniences, in a very pleasing way. The story itself was hazy but evocative and although you never really connect to any of the characters outside of Lily, you do get a very three dimensional look at everyone she interacts with. That coupled with the setting makes this a very intriguing book to read.

I can't help but add that because I read equal amounts of young adult fiction and adult romance novels, I could very much see this story as a lead in to a very interesting romance novel. I checked a little into the author's other work and unfortunately do not see that she has any inclination towards that genre *sigh*

Overall I would recommend this book to older elementary school kids. The only thing to keep in mind is that it does have the feel of an '80s story which always seem to have a melancholy and slightly disconnected feeling to the writing. ( )