Spain or Shine

Reader reviewed by KT

Spain or Shine is the best book i have ever read. If you like adventure, acting, drama, and fun all in one book. Spain or Shine is your best bet. Elena is a teenager who takes a school-related trip to Spain. She loves acting and she takes an acting class. she meet her soon to be really good friend Jenna who is a total boy flirt. She likes hanging at the beach with her friends, eating yummy food, and learning all in one vacation. If you want to learn about Spain and read an enjoyable book, go to your local library on a rainy day, no matter rain or shine, read my favorite book ever!!!!! SPAIN OR SHINE

Reader reviewed by Amanda

This was another enjoyable book, the most enjoyable in the series for me so far, being that I've been to Spain. I went for 10 days my senior year in high school and it was a lot of fun to read about the main character going to all of the places I had the opportunity to see.


16 year old Elena often feels left out in her big family and believes that going to Spain will finally allow her to stand out for something. Longing to be a playwright, Elena works hard while in Spain, but still has time for fun with her new friend Jenna and her new love interest, Miguel. Though still feeling as if she is below her true ability, Elena attempts to shine at her love of writing.


With beautiful descriptions of the Spain seaside, Jellen writes an excellent coming-of-age story. Elena grows emotionally and learns how to strive for what she believes in and what she loves. This book seems the most mature of the series with more time spent on the emotions of the main character and less time on romance, though there is a little thrown in here and there. I would highly recommend these books to teens, as the positive message is strong.

Reader reviewed by artemis

This book was long and the a pain to read! The main person, Elena didn't strike me as adventurous. She was whining and complaing throughout the whole book! She drove me nuts just reading about her and the endless descriptions of her surroundings! There's no plot and the story doesn't pick up until the very end. The author clearly wants you to stay out of Spain because she's not very convincing about making one go.

Reader reviewed by Ria

Overshadowed by her other siblings, Elena feels like she never stands out. So she takes a once in a lifetime opportunity to study for a semester in San Sebastian, Spain. In Spain, she quickly becomes friends with outgoing Jenna, which leads her to experience many new things in Spain, from visiting Tapas bars to relaxing on the beach everyday. But Elena also has her playwriting on her mind as she wants her play to be selected to be performed for the school. Adding to her stress is the cute boy Miguel she has her eyes on. But when Elena meets her namesake, her great aunt Elena, things seem to make sense and Elena learns that she shouldn't feel hidden by other people.

I thought that this book was cute. I love reading books that take place in other countries, so I loved the descriptions of San Sebastian and Madrid. I think that there was a good mix of everything in this book, romance, culture, suspense. I was a bit disappointed in the ending. But overall, I enjoyed reading this book. As this is only one of the books in the Students Across the Seven Seas series, I look forward to reading the others soon.