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Carpe Diem | 
 enlarge | Author: Autumn Cornwell
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy Used: $4.41
You Save: $12.54 (74%)
New (32) Used (16) Collectible (2) from $4.41
Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 407056
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Reading Level: Young Adult
Pages: 368
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.7 x 5.5 x 1.2
ISBN: 0312367929
EAN: 9780312367923
ASIN: 0312367929
Publication Date: August 21, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Not an ex library copy. A clean copy with no underlining, highlighting, or other text markings whatsoever. WE SHIP DAILY
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Product Description
“I’ve got my entire life planned out for the next ten years — including my PhD and Pulitzer Prize,” claims 16-year-old overachiever Vassar Spore, daughter of overachiever parents, who in true overachiever fashion named her after an elite women’s college. Vassar expects her sophomore summer to include AP and AAP (Advanced Advanced Placement) classes. Surprise! Enter a world-traveling relative who sends her plans into a tailspin when she blackmails Vassar’s parents into forcing their only child to backpack with her through Southeast Asia.
On a journey from Malaysia to Cambodia to the remote jungles of Laos, Vassar sweats, falls in love, hones her outdoor survival skills — and uncovers a family secret that turns her whole world upside-down.
Vassar Spore can plan on one thing: she’ll never be the same again.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 from the other side of the world September 10, 2007
Mindy Au (Mae Sot, Thailand)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
LIM, indeed!! There's still much to learn in life, but I do know a little bit about squatty potties, SE Asia, Asian guys without facial hair, and overachievement. This book is awesome YA book that made me think about the here and now that I tend to ignore or forget. There is so much life-planning that I constantly do, and this was a good reminder to laugh and enjoy life as it is.
As for how true it is to life in SE Asia, well... I've had my share of food poisoning, snakes, and bamboo huts. Reliving those moments with Vassar made me laugh so much, as some previously awkward memories re-surfaced. That first time with a squat toilet was ridiculous.
Enjoy this book! :-) It's funny and wise, and I hope you like it as much as I have. May we all LIM!
MY FRIEND AUTUMN'S BOOK September 11, 2007
Ruth C. (Southern California)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've been friends with Autumn (Cornwell, of course!) for about 8 years. I still remember the day when we were talking on the phone and she suddenly announced that she was going to become a young adult book author. My first thought was, "Do people just decide to do that?" My second thought was, "How?"
Well, Autumn not only decided to do it, she did it. How? By writing a hilarious novel about an exceptionally bright, disaster prone, endearing, unforgettable teen named Vassar Spore. The story follows Vassar from her rigidly scheduled and predictable life in Seattle to her anything-but-predictable misadventures in Southeast Asia. Accompanying Vassar on her travels are her free spirited Grandma Gerd and Hanks, a wry Chinese Malaysian who's enthralled by American culture and, hmmmmm, perhaps by Vassar, as well???
If Autumn's descriptions of the exotic countries that her characters visit seem vivid and very real to readers, that's because Autumn, herself, has traveled to every one of these places. Also, many of the things that happen in this book were inspired by events that Autumn actually experienced, too.
And, yes, that includes the "Laotian jungle adventure" (as her book jacket bio calls it), involving opium addicts, cold temperatures, and a travel companion who accidentally causes a heck of a lot of trouble.
When I first read Autumn's book, it was just a typed up manuscript. She hadn't even sent it out to agents yet. At that time, the story was called SQUAT TOILETS, and I could easily imagine generations of teens reading it and being inspired to, someday, travel to distant places to experience adventures of their own.
If CARPE DIEM does change the life of even one reader, it's amazing to think that it will all be because, one day, my friend, Autumn, decided to become a YA author...
A very, very good one.
 Super Young Adult read! October 15, 2007
armchairinterviews.com (Minnesota)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
You just know when you have your entire life planned, Murphy will make an appearance and slap you `upside the head.' That is exactly the problem sixteen-year-old Vassar (named after the college) Spore has. She and her parents are over achievers and believe in life planning to the inth degree. Vassar's grandmother Gerd (whom Vassar has never met) has other plans for her.
Grandma Gerd, a bohemian artist who travels the world, calls Vassar's parents to set up a six- week summer trip with Vassar through Southeast Asia. When the invite is declined, blackmail enters the scene and suddenly Vassar's summer has been decided, even though she is adamantly opposed to the plan.
Vassar is forced to travel (with ten pieces of luggage--because you must be prepared) to meet her grandmother in Malaysia, determined to find out about The Secret. And she's decided she's not going to enjoy the trip. I mean, how much fun can six weeks of bathrooms that consist of a hole in the ground be?
Along the way Vassar learns to look at life from another perspective, gets a new name, learns to appreciate her strange grandmother, meets a Malaysian cowboy, experiences the adventure of a lifetime, faces danger and learns that sometimes living in the moment is the right and best thing to do.
Oh, the Malaysian cowboy is quite a hunk and does not go unnoticed by Vassar. And the family secret? Well it is a dilly and it changes Vassar's life forever.
In a time when a great deal of young adult books are, in my opinion, trash, it's a delight to find a gem of a book for kids. Carpe Diem is a gem. I loved the plot, enjoyed the characters (although Grandma Gerd really `ticked' me off sometimes) and appreciated that the author could draw me in so completely to Vassar's world.
This book is so much fun, I recommend you give it as a gift to someone else who is searching for good, fun young adult books.
Armchair Interviews says: Carpe Diem is not to be missed. Adults and kids will enjoy it.
Enjoy Every Twist and Turn September 5, 2007
Caren Cowan (Parachute, CO United States)
What a great book! Slow down and live, don't plan your life away. That has never been my problem, but Vassar plans her every moment (even putting her retainer in).
Grandma blackmails Vassar's parents so that she has to join her on her travels in Southeast Asia. Just wait! Don't miss the clues and DON'T miss this book.
What a wonderful book! September 6, 2007
D. Hardy (California)
Fast-paced, humor at every turn, vicarious visit to the Far East (the only way to visit:--)) ), Vassar is a WONDERFUL character, everyone wants a relative like Grandma Gerd, and I can't wait for a sequel. Thanks so much for introducing me to Carpe Diem. I've already passed it on to friends to enjoy.
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