‘The Eternal City’: Novel worthy of teen obsession

There's a tween in my family who is obsessed with books featuring mythological characters. She's been casting about for her next book. Paula Morris' 'The Eternal City” may be just what she's seeking.

Morris, who hails from New Zealand and is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, has penned a story of a contemporary high school student visiting Rome who finds the ancient world intruding on her reality.

The book is briskly plotted, and Morris successfully weaves together a teenager's normal day-to-day concerns - social awkwardness, homesickness, longing for both independence and safety - with the mythological adventure that drives the story.

Morris writes exciting actions scenes, often shifting from the mundane to the supernatural with no warning. And she shows us a Rome full of beauty, mystery and possibility.

Book reading

What: Paula Morris reads from 'The Eternal City”

Where: Prairie Lights Books, 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday

Cost: Free