For fans of Jenna Evans Welch and Barbara Dee, a timely and uplifting contemporary YA story of a young girl risking all for self-truth, family, and first love over one sun-drenched Greek summer.

Ready—set—look out, world! Kat Baker is about to explode . . . onto the high school scene, that is. All she has to do? Spend July and August training with New Canaan High’s cross-country team, become a running goddess and, come fall, claim her place as the team’s star freshman runner.

When her mom shocks her with the unwelcome news that the family will spend the summer exploring their roots in the rustic Greek village of Paralia, Kat’s sure her high school popularity plan is toast. Once in Paralia, punishing heat and cultural clashes force her to launch a risky and covert training strategy to keep her running-star dreams alive. And it is during these hidden sessions that Kat is swept into late-night encounters with Theofilus Zafirakis, a beautiful but off-limits Greek boy.

As Kat’s lies mount, her secret odyssey spirals out of control, finally putting one of her cousins in danger. In the end, it takes the unexpected meddling of a village full of crazy, wonderful—and not so wonderful—Greeks for her to open up to her Greek side and stand strong, discovering at last that the key to belonging anywhere is belonging first to herself.

Half-Greek, half-American, Mima Tipper and her writing reflect her heritage—a little bit old-country, a little bit rock and roll: one foot wandering through the dreamy realms of myths and faerie tales, the other running on the solid ground of fast-paced, contemporary story. She earned her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and has published YA fiction in Hunger Mountain and Sucker Literary magazine. Her YA short story “A Cut-out Face” received an honorable mention from Hunger Mountain’s Katherine Paterson Prize, her work-in-progress “Chasing a Blue So Wild” was a top ten finalist in Voyage YA’s first chapter contest, and her work-in-progress “Channeling Marilyn” came in second place for Paranormal Romance in the Chesapeake Romance Writer’s annual Rudy contest. “Kat’s Greek Summer” will be her first published novel. Beyond devoting most of her time to writing, Mima volunteers at her local library and is committed to promoting literacy. Mima lives in Vermont with her family.