"That Summer" Book Review

Many parts of Haven's life are changing, her parents got a divorce and her dad is remarried, her sister is getting married, and her mom is going to Europe. Haven feels like she is not important anymore. Sarah Dessen's That Summer is a story about Haven finding herself.

The theme of That Summer is be yourself and comfortable in your own skin. Haven is fifteen years old and 6 feet tall. She feels out of place all the time because she is not comfortable with who she is.

I like the author's writing style the books that she writes are easy to read. She uses common terms and makes the characters sound like they are real people.

There were many characters in That Summer. I have already mentioned one, Haven. Haven is fifteen years old and unusually tall. She feels like her world is falling apart, because so many aspects of her life are changing. Ashley, Haven's sister is short and pretty. She is getting married to Lewis. Haven's mom is very stressed all the time. Sumner, Ashley's ex-boyfriend, is Haven's go-to person. When Haven is having a bad day she goes to Sumner and expects him to make everything better. These characters are believable as real people because their emotions are so real.

In That Summer, Haven is having a horrible summer. Her parents got a divorce, her dad remarried, her sister is getting married, her mom might be going to Europe, and her best friend has completely changed. Ashley has had many boyfriends, so many that instead of marking big events by dates, Haven marks them by which boyfriend Ashley had at the time. Haven's favorite of Ashley's boyfriends is Sumner. There was one summer that Haven's family went to the beach with Sumner. Haven remembers this summer as her favorite because everyone was happy. Now that she is having a horrible summer, she tries to hang out with Sumner as much as she can. Haven is a peace-maker. One day she wakes up and decides she is not going to put up with anything anymore. She throws a shoe at a rude customer at work, then storms out and runs away. While she is out she runs into Sumner. Haven talks to him for a while and realizes he is not who she thinks he is.

This book is similar to the other Sara Dessen books I have read. I recommend this book to someone that likes Sara Dessen books, this book is not her best one but is still interesting.

198 pages