Joan Kindig, Ph.D. (Children's Literature)
Cal and her mother roam from one place to another and finally light in Asheville, NC, where she meets Eliot. Cal’s mother is a wench/jewelry maker at a Renaissance Fair and Eliot’s father is a TV preacher who runs a fat camp for Christian kids. Both disenchanted with their situations, Cal and Eliot fall in love, and for the first time, in a long time, feel like they belong somewhere. When Delores, Cal’s mother, decides it is time to move on, Cal realizes what she desperately wants in her life--a home and stability. How do you ask that of a mother who never sees beyond herself? This is a compelling story of asking for what you need and love (on a lot of levels). A subplot of Eliot’s parents growing apart supports and echoes what Cal and Eliot are experiencing. 2006, Dutton, $16.99. Ages 10 to 14.

Emme Yeargin (Children's Literature)
In the beginning of the novel, all Calliope wants to do is stay put; she is tired of bouncing from town to town all over the country with her mother. On a different horizon, Eliot misses the fond memories he has had to leave behind because his father decided to open a camp for kids looking to lose weight and find Jesus. Both families end up in Ashville, North Carolina, where Cal and Eliot meet for the first time. Cal and Eliot immediately connect and eventually fall in love. Both finally feel like they belong. Just as life is improving for the two of them, Eliot's father voices his disapproval of the relationship, and Cal's mom wants to move again. The daily support that Cal and Eliot provide for each other help them to survive this difficult point in their lives. Barkely and Hepler create well-developed, enjoyable characters in this novel, and their choice of first-person narrative is one of the most effective elements of the book, giving extra insight into Cal's feelings. The narration makes it easy for readers to connect with the story. Although not the most appropriate choice for classroom use because of its appeal primarily to female readers, this novel would make great recreational reading. 2006, Dutton/Penguin, $16.99. Ages 10 to 14.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2006 (Vol. 74, No. 9))
Through Calliope (aka Cal) and Eliot's alternating, distinct and believable teen voices, Barkley and Hepler present a heartwarming glimpse into a summer romance. Before meeting, life for Cal and Eliot has been far from normal. For Cal, life has meant moving every few months when her mother gets the urge and for Eliot, life has centered on his evangelical father's Sonshine Valley Christian Camp. However, despite their different backgrounds and parents' wishes, Cal and Eliot share a summer of laughter and stolen romantic moments. At times, their relationship teeters toward sappiness, but is tempered by both teens' maturity and their growing independence from the lives carved for them by their parents. A satisfying read made richer by the better writing than that offered in most teen romances. 2006, Dutton, 224p, $16.99. Category: Fiction. Ages 13 up. © 2006 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Claire Rosser (KLIATT Review, May 2006 (Vol. 40, No. 3))
The authors are both teachers of creative writing at the college level, and both have published their fiction in literary magazines. They have joined their talents to write this YA novel about a couple of engaging teenagers who meet one summer in Asheville, North Carolina, at a Renaissance Faire. Calliope, Cal, is the child of a restless mother who can't stay in one place very long--she hauls an unwilling Cal with her around the country. Cal is lovely and brilliant, but she is lonely and misses her father. Eliot's family used to be happy until his father had a conversion to fundamentalist Christianity and became a shell of his former self, dragging his wife and Eliot along with him to market his faith, running a camp for obese Christian teenagers. Eliot works hard for his father at the camp, but doesn't share the faith and sees how miserable his mother is trying to stay in the marriage. There are fireworks when Cal and Eliot meet. And funny that I should mention fireworks--making fireworks illegally is Eliot's secret, which he soon shares with Cal. Their romance works on many levels. We enjoy their personalities and understand their difficulties. Several of the adult characters are fully realized, although the difficult mother of Cal and father of Eliot are hard to understand. A sense of place in the mountains of North Carolina, in a lovely little town, is vividly real, all the more important to the story since Cal longs to remain there when her mother is determined to move on. YAs who enjoy love stories that are more than entertaining fluff will appreciate this one. The meaning of the title: Cal remembers wonderful times with her father, making breakfast and eating together at home in the middle of the night--to her it represents belonging to someone somewhere. Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: JS--Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2006, Penguin, Dutton, 262p., $16.99. Ages 12 to 18.

Linda Martin (Library Media Connection, January 2007)
This story is told in alternating chapters by the two main characters, Calliope and Eliot. Did authors Heather Hepler and Brad Barkley divide the writing by chapter according to their genders? This title seems familiar and somewhat predictable, despite featuring several intriguing characters, including Calliope's mom, whose primary means of supporting her daughter post-divorce is as a wench at Renaissance faires across the country; Eliot's dad who runs a Christian camp for the overweight; and Abel, a formerly kosher Jew who owns a pork barbecue restaurant. Calliope and Eliot themselves are the most normal members of their families, and the plot is basically boy meets girl, they fall in love, family obstacles get in their way, and, in the end, as you can imagine, all works out for the young pair. Still, this dually authored book is a good read, and young adult readers might take comfort in its familiarity. It's not a particularly thought-provoking or challenging book, but readers will be wondering if a follow-up novel by these authors will be forthcoming. Recommended. 2006, Dutton Children's Books (Penguin Young Readers Group), 224pp., $16.99 hc. Ages 12 to 18.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2006)
Tired of traveling, Calliope only wants to call one place home. Eliot, trapped by his evangelist father's confining morals, wants nothing more than to burst free. When the two teens get together, opposites unite to deal with their different but difficult families. Alternately narrated by the two protagonists, this love story has a strong Southern setting and eccentric supporting characters. Category: Older Fiction. 2006, Dutton, 262pp, 16.99. Ages 12 to 14. Rating: 3: Recommended, satisfactory in style, content, and/or illustration.

Mary Ann Harlan (VOYA, August 2006 (Vol. 29, No. 3))
A normal girl might not fall in love with a guy who has green lips the first time she sees him. But Cal is not a normal girl. She is guarded, cynical, and achingly lonely-not that different from Eliot, who is lucky that he did not realize that his lips were green when he first spoke to Cal. In a small town, through a series of coincidences that brings them together, Cal and Eliot fall in love. It is not easy, as they have their own issues with parents: Cal's mother is a "wench, it says so on her W-2," who cannot stay in one place, and Eliot's father is immersed in running a fat camp for God and writing books such as What Would Jesus Eat. Essentially the two characters are used to being alone, or at least isolated, until they meet each other. It is a surprising book with beautiful imagery. Eliot's obsession with fireworks gives voice to a descriptive style of using colors to illustrate moments. Cal's loneliness gives her voice an aching, wanting tone. Eliot's mother and Abel, who takes Cal under his wing, are fully realized adult characters, not two-dimensional antagonists, although the other two adults can be clichTd. There is the tendency toward a more adult voice in the teen characters, yet both are intelligent teens surround by adults, the type of teens likely to develop that preternatural maturity. The book is, overall, a wonderful read. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2006, Dutton, 224p., $16.99. Ages 12 to 18.

Molly Gregerson, Teen Reviewer (VOYA, August 2006 (Vol. 29, No. 3))
When I first started reading this book, I didn't really connect with Eliot's story. Within a couple of chapters, I started to enjoy Eliot's story as well as Cal's. I loved seeing Eliot's mother coming out of her shell to bond with Eliot and Cal. I also liked the pseudo-father-daughter relationship Cal formed with Abel. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2006, Dutton, 224p., $16.99. Ages 12 to 18.