1 (Thankfully Discussed Rather Than Demonstrated) Mopey Teenager with First World Problems, including
Deliberate Grade Sabotage
Cold Shoulder to Perfectly Nice Stepparent
Refusal to Do The Things She Loves to Punish Parents, which results in:

1 Parental Guilt Manipulated Study Abroad Program
OAXACA Mexico
1 Community Project
1 Snotty Host Sister
Delicious Surprise!Fried Grasshoppers
Environment/Cultural Enrichment Trips
Cliff-Diving
BABY TURTLES!

1 Neglectful Best Friend, Too Busy With
1 Irritating Player "Boyfriend" (Sleazy Variety)
1 Down-To-Earth Adorable NOT!Dating NOT!Boyfriend
1 Nerdy Troubadour with Aspirations of Don Juan (Sweet not Sleazy Variety)
Salsa Dancing ( )

Cat Wilcox has left chilly Boston for sunny Mexico and a summer of girl bonding with her best friend, Sabrina. But Sabrina has a surprise. She is accompanied by her boyfriend—a boyfriend Cat didn’t even know existed. So rather than Sabrina and Cat spending their study-abroad semester working together at the orphan school building site, Cat expects she’ll be hammering nails all by her lonesome. Then she meets Aidan. He’s cute, he’s smart, and he’s paying her a lot of attention. Cat can’t tell if he’s flirting or friendly, but she’s not sure it matters. Isn’t it easier to be just friends? But this is enchanted Mexico and, between hiking in the rain forest, diving off waterfalls, and finishing the orphan center, it’s going to take a little bit of salsa spirit, and a lot of heart, for Cat to make it through the summer unchanged.

Reviewed by Jocelyn Pearce for TeensReadToo.com

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! ( )

a tomboy novel. ( )

Cat just moved to Boston and she hates it. Due to her mom's recent remarriage to the geekiest history professor in the world, Cat's had to pick up and leave all her friends in Arizona. She is not happy about it and, in fact, she's determined not to give Boston a chance. She'll get through her junior and senior years and then head right back to Arizona for college. And luckily, Cat's come up with a plan to escape Boston for the summer, too! Her best friend Sabrina told her about the Students Across the Seven Seas study abroad program. So Cat's going down to Mexico to spend her summer with Sabrina, catching up on girl bonding, perfecting her Spanish, and helping with a community service project.

What Cat did NOT expect was that Sabrina would have a boyfriend who also came to Mexico. Sabrina's blowing her off to hang out with her boy toy. Cat's new roommate Izzie (daughter of her host family) has taken an immediate dislike to her and calls her an American princess. Mexico's not what Cat thought it would be at all...

I've been wanting to try one of the SASS books and I really enjoyed it! It's a little formulaic, but there are a lot of details about the places they go in Mexico. There's a host of likeable characters (none of which are particularly deep except for maybe Cat), some comic relief, and a predictable romance thrown in. I'll definitely be reading more in this series. It's perfect escapism reading. ( )