Battle Hall (her parents named her after a building) and Nicola (Nic to her friends) meet at a summer program for gifted students. While Nic thinks she'll be spending the summer learning how to be an archeologist, she learns a lot more from her new friends and from her relationship with Battle. What's a girl to do when she thinks she's attracted to guys and finds herself falling in love with another girl? ( )

I enjoyed this book, although not as much as I thought I was going to. Even though the point of the book was Nic and Battle's relationship, I had a hard time seeing it come about because as the story is told from Nic's POV, she seemed to be pretty circumspect about falling for Battle until she hits us over the head with it. It was nice to see the easiness of the relationship and the fact that Nic didn't really care about labeling it--very refreshing.

Nic is a junior anthropologist and loves to label objects; people; and herself. Nic is pretty sure what category she falls under when she heads to a summer camp for gifted and talented students. But when Nic meets Battle; an attractive southern belle with a distaste for labels; Nic has to rethink everything. The two have a budding relationship that will make Nic consider the importance of labels and what hers might be. An interesting take on young lesbian love; this novel is not very well written and hilarious at times (but doesn't always intend to be). ( )

Review: Empress of the World (romance)(high school)
The story is about Nicola (Nic), who has some new experiences at a summer camp for gifted students. The first thing that struck me about the book, was how SLOW it moves…especially in the beginning. I am not sure a young person reading this book would have the patience to wade through it. Maybe I’m being overly critical, and maybe the things that the characters say would be more interesting to a younger person than it was to me…but I don’t think so! Often times the author gives us a lot of unnecessary detail…a lot of detail!
That said, things do get a little bit more interesting at some point, as Nic finds that she has some feelings about a girl that she meets named Battle. It deals with her confusion, as she is surprised that she has feelings for a girl, when in the past she has had feelings for only (mostly) boys. Since the story is given in a combination of first person (of Nicola) and her journal entries, you get to hear the intricate details of her thoughts and feelings as this happens.
It was hard to read because the author would use language that real girls don’t use…I don’t mean curse words or anything, just the phrases she used…they seemed like they were from another era, only something an older person would say. That made it seem more contrived. But once in awhile she has the protagonist say something that is quite pretty, and it doesn’t seem to matter, like “…violas in good voice sound like expensive chocolate tastes, rich and swirling and complex. And that’s the kind of moves she made, all loose arms and light, long legs, and I knew, just for a minute, what music was for.”
Nicola has the need to analyze everything, try to explain things, label them, put them all in their place. Her subject in school is Archeology and the way she is having to put the pieces and shards of the artifacts together to decipher past civilizations mirrors the way she tries to categorize herself and her feelings. But Battle is not like this, and prefers to let things happen, and not judge or label.
As their “romance” progresses, the girls (Nic and Battle) openly show their affection. This shocks some, and even elicits some negative comments (people saying “dyke” as they pass). But Nic’s problem is not about the people who are watching, but with the fact that Battle and her have a “parting”. Battle has a sort of fling with a male friend of theirs. This devastates Nic. She talks a lot about her feelings with the other friends she’s made there. She spends much time after this lamenting her loss. But before the end of the book, they end up talking, and in the final scene kissing and talking about the possibility of them going to the same college.
The book is not really too explicit, but it does suggest that the girls do more than kiss. I read one review on this book that said that it only mentions that the girls kiss, nothing more…but I guess that person didn’t read page 131 where she says “…hands and mouths moving over each other…”! A librarian would want to consider whether they think this is appropriate. But it’s not really that explicit.
This would be a good book, particularly for people who think they might have homosexual tendencies. I’m sure they would feel less alone in their feelings. However, because it deals a lot with the main character’s emotions…and because the focus is on the affection and the pain, not just the fact that the relationship is a same-sex one, all teen readers will be able to glean something about relationships from this book. In fact, a side story is about one of the boys and one of the girls, who end up together as a couple in the end. So the “lesbian” aspect of the book isn’t overwhelming or overly played…the author realizes that in any relationship, gay or straight, you still have the same problems, joys, and hopes, and the author seems to have made it that way on purpose.
I didn’t love the book, but it might appeal to some students, and I would put it in my collection.

I wanted to read this again before reading the sequel, and I enjoyed it as much as the first time.
Nic is spending the summer at a gifted teen program, studying archaeology. Here she meets her first real friends, including the complicated girl named Battle, who Nic soon realises that she'd rather be more than friends with.