The Finnish Line

Zusatztext Convincing! intimate! stimulating! (Nikki Stone! Olympic Gold Medalist! Aerial Skiing) Informationen zum Autor Linda Gerber recently returned to life in the Midwest after four years in Japan! where she served as the Regional Advisor for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. She currently lives and writes in Dublin! OH! blissfully ignoring her husband! four kids! and one very naughty puppy. Klappentext When Nordic ski jumper Maureen ?Mo? Clark set foot in Finland! she breathed a sigh of relief. Finally! escape from her famous skier father?s shadow and a chance to jump in the renowned Lahti Ski Games. But Mo quickly realizes that balancing practice and classes is more challenging than she expected. So when a gorgeous bad boy teammate offers coaching assistance?for a little publicity in return?how can she refuse? Surely she can work in a few extra practices somewhere between studying for calculus and sightseeing in Finland? Amid snowmobiling and dog-sledding! ice hotels and Northern lights! Mo begins to discover what strength and perseverance?the Finnish sisu?is all about. Now it?s up to her to take that final jump and cross the finish line in style. Chapter One Maureen Clark juggled her ski bag and rolled her suitcase over the polished floors of the arrivals lobby in the Vantaa-Helsinki airport. Electricity hummed in the glass prisms overhead, echoing the vibrations of excitement in her bones. After all those months of waiting, she was really and truly here. She scanned the crowd for the representative from the Scholar Athlete Exchange program who was supposed to be waiting for her. Her smile faltered when she didn’t see anyone, but only for a second. The flight had come in nearly forty minutes early, so whoever was coming probably hadn’t had time to get there yet. No need to let it spoil the moment. She was sixteen, not six. She could wait. She found the currency exchange booth and traded her dollars for euros and then bought a prepaid cell phone at the neighboring Nokia kiosk. Her dad had insisted she get one “in case of an emergency.” Like she didn’t know the real reason: control. He might have agreed to let her travel halfway around the world, but he still wanted to keep a leash on her. Since she was the youngest of seven kids—the baby of the family and one of only two girls—to say he was protective of her would be an understatement. Try smothering. Whatever. She wasn’t going to argue about anything that got her a cell phone. She found a phone with a text-messaging option and bought an international calling card so she could use the phone for her own “emergencies”—like keeping in touch with her best friend back home. She glanced at her watch. Too early in Utah for calls, but she could still send a text. Finding a quiet corner, she pulled out the phone and quickly thumbed in a message to her friend Janessa. am in will call @ 5 2night b there A hand touched her shoulder and Maureen jumped, nearly dropping the phone. Behind her stood a man wearing a GoreTex jacket and a pinched expression on his face. “Maureen Clark?” “Yes?” His posture relaxed. “I was afraid we’d lost you. Arho Peltonen, coach of the SAE club. Sorry I was late.” He extended his hand and she shook it. “ Hauska tutustua, ” she said in her best phrase-book Finnish. “Pleased to meet you.” His smile broadened. “Ah. You’ve been studying. Excellent. Shall we go? If you’d like to gather your things, I’ll pull up the car.” And that’s how Maureen Clark found herself standing alone outside an airport halfway around the world from her home in Park City, Utah . . . grinning like a fool. In the darkness, Maureen could just make out the silhouettes of trees beyond the airport parking lot. It was only four-thirty in the afternoon, but already black as midnight. She’d been warned that January days in Finland were short, but she did...

Product details

• Authors: Linda Gerber
• Publisher: Penguin Books USA
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: from age 12
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 04.10.2007
• EAN: 9780142409169
• ISBN: 978-0-14-240916-9
• No. of pages: 205
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 210 mm x 19 mm
• Series: S.A.S.S.: Students Across the; S.A.S.S.; S.A.S.S.
• Subject: Children's and young people's books