From acclaimed and #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah Dessen comes a “sweet, nuanced, and reflective coming-of-age love story” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) about an unassuming girl who learns to stand on her own while falling in love during a life-changing summer.
Finley has always felt most comfortable in someone else’s shadow. Fortunately, she’s got Colin, her magnetic boyfriend, who sweeps her along for activities, friendships, and future plans. Then she goes on a last-minute trip with her distant mom to a family vacation house that Finley didn’t know existed and is now about to be sold.
Her mom was estranged from her own parents and siblings since leaving home for college, and it’s a novelty for Finley to see her aunts and cousins. There’s also the handful of teens who work at the Egg, her aunt’s diner, and make up a found family of their own—including undeniably handsome guitarist Ben.
Then her relationship with Colin goes into freefall, and Finley’s roadmap for life after high school is gone. She has no choice but to live, for the first time, without plans. The longer Finley stays, the closer she gets to the truth about why her mother stayed away—and why she’s brought Finley here now.
And the closer she grows to new friends at the Egg, the more she starts to fall for charmingly awkward, soulful Ben and to realize how much of herself she’s been missing. By the end of the summer, nothing will be the same—for this community or for Finley herself.---from the publisher
368 pages 979-8347108770 Ages 13 and up
Keywords: coming of age, romance, love, mothers/daughters, change, accepting change, trusting yourself, self reliance, believing in yourself, friendship, relatives, summer, family, secrets, relationships, women, 13 year old, 14 year old, 15 year old, 16 year old, character driven, character development
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It's that magical time when high school is ending, graduation day has arrived and the last summer before college and really growing up is looming large. Until.... yep, there it is... and you suspected it was coming... until Finley's boyfriend - the guy who shows her who she is - breaks up from her on a phone call and Finley's mom drags her off to the family vacation house and an entire set of relatives Finley doesn't even know.
Some relationships are just so darn comfortable. Some relationships fill in all the blanks and all the awkward pauses. That is what Finley had with Colin -or at least she thought she did. Now she's sleeping in "juvie" the room downstairs with the window near the ground level that can be an instant exit when needed. Finley and her mom are not close. Do they even have something they could claim as a relationship? Maybe not since Finley's mother abandoned motherhood and Finley a long time ago and went off to have a career of her own.
What does life have to offer when everything is tearing you apart and leaving you wondering who you really are and whether you really do like that cute guitar player, Ben?
This is a summer about girls becoming women and women connecting with each other. Turns out there are a lot of ways to be a woman and Finley just may find she has gained much more than she lost when Colin said it was all over. Would she even want him back? Or is she ready to make her own decisions, do what feels right for her, and maybe even risk giving her heart to a boy in a way she really never has before.
Recommended by: Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
