Friday, August 5, 2016

Blue Voyage by Diana Renn - ADVISABLE

Renn, Diana Blue Voyage, 445 pgs. Viking, 2015. $18.99. language:  PG (10 swears, 0 “F”);  Mature Content:   PG;  Violence:  PG.

Due to various family scandals in the news, sixteen year old Alexandria or Zan for short is forced to go on an exotic Mediterranean archaeological cruise with her mother and aunt.  Zan’s vacation takes an unexpected turn when she discovers art forgeries and an antiquities smuggling ring involving an ancient priceless  and cursed urn in her aunt’s possession.   Zan uses her detective and rock climbing skills to solve the mystery of her uncle’s death and to find the stolen urn as she traipses through the Turkish Riviera, Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar and the deteriorating caves of Cappadocia, Turkey.  Diana Renn weaves real issues of antiquities trafficking and buyers and sellers seeking opportunities to profit from the shards of past civilizations into her story.

This modern day young adult mystery that incorporates history and culture of Turkey will entertain audiences in junior and high school.  After reading this book one needs to consider who has the right to own history and when pieces of history get stolen, what price do all of us pay?

MS, HS – ADVISABLE.  Reviewer: JB

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