Sometime in Summer: review

Big thanks to the NOVL for the arc!

Katrina Leno was born on the East Coast and currently lives in Los Angeles. She is the author of six critically acclaimed novels - Horrid, You Must Not Miss, Summer of Salt, Everything All at Once, The Lost & Found, and The Half Life of Molly Pierce.

katrinaleno.com instagram.com/katrinalenobooks twitter.com/katrinaleno facebook.com/katrinalenobooks

Title: Sometime in Summer

Author: Katrina Leno

Publisher: Little Brown, For Young Readers

Genre: YA/Magical Realism

Page Count: 416 pages

From critically acclaimed author Katrina Leno comes a tender love letter to books and summertime, with a touch of magic.

Anna Lucia Bell believes in luck: bad luck. Bad luck made her best friend stop talking to her. Bad luck caused her parents’ divorce. Bad luck is forcing her mother, Miriam, to sell the family’s beloved bookstore. And it is definitely bad luck that Anna seems to be the only person in the world Miriam is unable to recommend a life-changing book.

When Anna finds out that she and her mom are spending two months in a New England seaside town called Rockport, she expects a summer plagued with bad luck too. But Rockport has surprises in store for Anna, including a comet making its first appearance in over twenty years and two new—but familiar—friends.

In what will prove to be the most important summer of her life so far, Anna learns about love, herself, and the magic that an ordinary summer can bring.

Thank you Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and NOVL for the review copy!

This book is less Horrid and You Must Not Miss and more Summer of Salt (the most amazing magical realism book I have ever read). Anna is definitely the youngest protagonist (I haven't read her other works other than the aforementioned books so I might be wrong) at only fourteen. Boy does the cover image make her look older, but I digress. Anna's world is upended when her parents separate and her mother drops the bomb that they're spending the summer in Rockport, Massachusetts, and selling their bookstore in LA. Anna is just coming off a falling-out with her best friend, so part of her likes the thought of being away while the other part is depressed about the way her life is changing.

Like Summer of Salt, the setting of Rockport is a character in itself. I'm a MA native but have never been to Rockport (don't come at me!) but I sank into the salt in the air and the sound of the waves. The fudge store and the cozy cottage.

The family dynamic is also raw and real and heartbreaking. Anna's parents are trying their best to make their divorce go as smoothly as possible so as to not traumatize Anna and I appreciate that. Miriam (the mother) says something along the lines of, "we never fought around you," when Anna asks why they were divorcing if they never fought with each other. It's touching and a testament to their love for Anna.

I guessed what was happening not long after being introduced to Anna's friends but it didn't take away from the magic.

Overall, I loved this book. Note, that it is on the younger side of YA, bordering on MG, but is the perfect summer read.

Next time I'm home in MA, I'll be sure to visit Rockport for sure.