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The Summer I Turned Pretty

 

The Summer I Turned Pretty
Written by Jenna Han

Originally published in 2009
About 304 pages
Rate 7/10

My summary of The Summer I Turned Pretty

Isabel or Belly for short, has been going to Cousins Beach every summer for her whole life. This summer Belly, her brother Steven, and her mom go to the summer house to meet Susannah. Susannah and Belly's mom are best friends, Susannah has two boys, Jeremiah and Conrad that are around Belly and Steven's age. This is the only place that these people meet together throughout the whole year.
In the past Belly has had a hard time being able to hang out with the boys because of Steven being an older brother. Steven would always pick on her like older brothers do and she would run away. This summer she's trying to become a good sport, she's trying to learn how to be a fun person to hang out with. 
Sometimes it's hard watching people become distant without understanding why, Belly has a lot to learn, and a lot of hearts to try not to break now that she's pretty

My thoughts on The Summer I Turned Pretty

I think that this book would be so epic for anyone who is between the ages of 12-17 because they are currently experiencing this type of chapter in their life. In this book, Belly doesn't really learn very much about herself or the world, so that's why I don't want to call it a coming of age book because it's really not. It's a book about understanding that big things could be happening right under your nose without you realizing, but there wasn't really any consequences that followed so nothing was truly learned.
There are other books within this series that I have not looked into at all, so I'm not sure how the story is going to play out, it might get better, I might find it more relatable and learn to love this first book as well. I liked the energy of the book, but there isn't anything too serious going on until the very end of the book, it's a light read.

(PS I actually listened to the audio book of this and Lola Tung was a great narrator! Also no favorite quotes section this time because I can't go back and listen to it because I don't want to.)

Links

Jenny Han Website

TV series: The Summer I Turned Pretty Overview

Goodreads: The Summer I Turned Pretty

Buy it at Barnes and Noble

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