My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a great read! It had a wonderful atmosphere in just about one of my favorite cities. I love Florence, Italy and cannot wait to visit again. I like the gypsy aspect of the story because Romanian gypsies have always held a certain mystery for me. My mom told me about the ones that lived in the storefronts in Chicago when she was a kid and I have always wondered about them since I was a kid and heard the stories.

Cat has the kind of life you might imagine a "Hollywood" teen might have, especially with her parents' background. I found it quite disappointing that a mother could walk away from a family, especially a child the way she did. But, her mother's family history was what created her interest in Italy. One of the things I really liked was how we were never sure how Patience's role was affected in this with Cat in the Renaissance era for the time she was there. It was part of the mystery and was very well done. Another thing I really loved about this story is Cat's love of art and how we were treated to this wonderfully described atmosphere. I had the same feeling of awe when I saw the original David in The Accademia, especially in comparison to the other 2 copies I have seen both in the Louvre and the one in Palazo della Signoria. I learned more about the history of it through Cat's eyes.

It was great reading about Cat's interactions with her very distant relatives and how it caused her to reflect upon her relationship with her parents and her father's fiancee. The descriptions of the frescoes in Florence were very well done and brought back amazing memories for me. I liked the ending and hope to see more in this story!

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