The Goodbye Summer
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Sarah Dessen meets Morgan Matson in the perfect summer debut about learning to say goodbye—or finding a reason to stay. Caroline is counting the days until September, when she'll turn seventeen and she and her older boyfriend, Jake, will run away together. She doesn't feel connected to anyone at home now that she has him, and she can't wait to see the world with the most important person in her life. So with just a few more months until freedom, she spends her summer working at the local aquarium gift shop and dreaming of the fall. Then she meets Georgia, a counselor at the aquarium's camp, and Caroline's world changes. Through pizza lunches, trips to amusement parks, and midnight talks, Georgia begins to show Caroline there's more to life than being with Jake. The stronger Georgia and Caroline's bond grows, the more uneasy Caroline becomes about her plans to leave. When summer comes to a close, she'll have to say goodbye to someone...but who is she willing to lose?
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(Disclosure: the author is a friend.) This book is so beautifully written and heartfelt and I just wanted to give Caroline and Georgia and even Matt and Toby gigantic hugs (and none for Jake, bye). I'm 36, so not at all in the target age range, but this book brought me back to that late-high-school feeling of wanting more, but not being sure what that “more” is or how to get it. I didn't have the same high school experiences as Caroline, so I didn't identify with her in that exact way, but the emotions were so real and so perfect. This isn't a heavy book at all or one with a Message, but it touches on some very real feelings and situations and does it all beautifully.
Disclosure: I know Sarah personally as a family friend.
When I was 17, I had a 23-year old boyfriend who was a trainwreck. Fortunately I broke up with him after several years, but not before we both hurt each other badly. So I can totally identify with the book's heroine Caroline, who is ready to drop out of school and run away with her boyfriend. Sarah does a great job of showing how Caroline has been controlled and manipulated by Jake until she is isolated and feels that Jake is her only option, especially because she is not terribly excited about college. It's not an abusive relationship, exactly, but it certainly is an unhealthy one.
When Caroline meets Georgia, she forms a close friendship that causes her to re-examine her options, and through Georgia she becomes part of a group that helps her realize she can have fun in other ways than hanging out with Jake. Georgia's parents are distant yet demanding, and her appreciation for Caroline's parents helps Caroline see what she will be giving up if she leaves with Jake. I've seen some reviews that are disappointed that Caroline and Georgia don't develop romantic feelings for each other, but to me it's much more rewarding to show a strong female relationship that helps Caroline reconsider her plans, instead of turning it into a dreaded love triangle.
Sarah has a gentle writing style that pauses to let in the joys of summer, eating pizza and ice cream and amusement park rides that both terrify and elate. She's definitely a talented author and I hope this is the first of many successful novels.
ARC received from Net Galley.
