REVIEW: IT'S NOT SUMMER WITHOUT YOU

Hardcover: 288 pages

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing (April 27 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416995552
ISBN-13: 978-1416995555



This book was sent to me from Michelle at Simon and Schuster Canada, THANK YOU MICHELLE!!!!

This is a very nicely written story about young love, and the enchantment of a summer place some of us may have had in our youth. Mine was a teeny tiny place in Saskatchewan called Goodsoil, and the boy in question was Steven. But I digress…. Because this post is sooo not about ME and sooo about the book. But what I am basically saying is if you had a summer place you vacayed to and a boy that happened to be attached to said place, than you probably will enjoy this book.

Apperantly this is a sequel to a book called “The Summer I turned Pretty”. Belly is still in love with Conrad and at the beginning of the book we find out that her mom’s beloved bestfriend, Susannah has died. This throws the whole entire lot of them in complete chaos. Conrad and his brother Jeremiah are grieving, as is Belly. In reponse to his grief Conrad disappears, and Jeremiah enlists Belly to help him find him.

This book was very well written and a great story for YA. Reading it in the middle of winter definitely has its advantages because as I am freezing my naughty bits off in Canada, I am on a warm beach with the wind in my hair breathing the musky smoke of a campfire. It packed with plenty of teenage angst, but not roll-your-eyes as in “as if” kind of way, but in a way that is believable. And one of the most annoying trends in YA that I have found so far is the contrived lack of parental figures in the books. But this one is not like that. Belly’s mother is only absent in spirit as she is devastated by the loss of her friend, but her relationship with Belly is solid and she is very much involved with Belly’s life.

I loved the ending, LOVED. It was very satisfying and rounded out the whole story nicely. I would be interested to hear from people who have read the first book and now this one? I have to say that I did not find out until AFTER I read it that it was a sequel, and it didn’t matter one bit. It does fine as a stand-alone book.

RATING: 3/5