Heaven is Paved with Oreos by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Fourteen-year-old Sarah Zorn and her best friend Curtis tell people they are dating just to get them to stop wondering. The truth is they are best friends and they do science projects together (like reconstructing the skeleton of a dead calf). Things change when Sarah's hippie grandmother takes her on a pilgrimage to Rome and Curtis decides he wants to stop pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend. This book is Sarah's journal of her trip and her changing feelings for Curtis. It's also the story of family secrets that her grandmother brings to light on the Spanish Steps in Rome. It's a sweet story about travel, family and romance that would be great for middle school girls. BONUS: It's also the companion book to Dairy Queen, which is one of my all-time favorite young adult novels. Curtis is D.J. Schwenk's quiet younger brother and D.J. and Sarah get to be friends in this book. Hopefully this will become a gateway book for middle schoolers to move on to Dairy Queen.