Book Title: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
When female students have read this is the past, I thought it was about how an ugly duckling became the swan. Boy was I wrong.
I read this book to help a student find the theme of it, and I have to say I did enjoy the stress Belly deals with in deciding which guy to like. Instead of this just having a ordinary three-way love affair, Han has Belly have to choose between three boys. Isn't it always the guy we really like as teenage girls, the one who doesn't like us back? Oh, the heartbreak......
Every summer Belly and her family go to Cousins Beach with her mom's best friend (Susannah) and her two boys: Conrad and Jeremiah. Belly has had a crush on Conrad for as long as she can remember, but he treats her like a little sister. The summer she turns sixteen, she is changing from a girl to a young woman and guys begin to notice and pay attention to her. The guy she wants to notice her, Conrad, doesn't. After she begins dating Cameron, another summer visitor to the beach, who tells her she is beautiful, Conrad's younger brother Jeremiah lets her know how he feels about her. Which guy would you choose?
Even though my student told me the plot of the novel, I did cry toward the end of the novel when Belly finds out the secret everyone has been keeping from her. I cried more than I did when I read The Fault In Our Stars but less than I did when reading The Sky is Everywhere. I guess the parent and child relationship hit me because what happens is one of my greatest fears as a parent.
This is not a formulaic Nicholas Sparks book that teenage girls like to read. The summer teenage girls turn pretty is when boys begin to notice them. Will you choose the guy who compliments you on your beauty, the guy who is your best friend, or the unavailable guy?
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