tiny pink books

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, 2009
I picked up the audio version of this book without many expectations.  I’d heard about this book and something about the title and cover (perhaps the preppy east coast vibe) never really appealed.  I’m happy to report that my first impressions were completely wrong–The Summer I Turned Pretty is a lovely book!
Fifteen-year-old Belly has spent every summer at a beach house owned by her mother’s best friend Susannah.  Her “summer family” consists of her mother, her brother Steven, Susannah and Susannah’s two sons, Conrad and Jeremiah.  Full of memories, family drama and romance, this is the summer when everything changes.

What I loved about this book is that Han succeeded in creating the magical little world of the summer beach house.  It’s nostalgic and beautiful and really makes you think that you can feel the warm sunshine on your back while you read it.  Anyway, I’m not going to yammer on too much.  I will say that the audio version of this book was great.  I really think it helped connect me to a character and a world that I don’t have much in common with.  I felt like I really knew the characters and their world by the time I finished.  The sequel, It’s Not Summer Without You is out now and should be available in audio towards the end of July.

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