That Summer

This is a bittersweet novel that follows gawky teen Haven as she tries to come to terms with the changes taking place in her life. Haven's famous sports reporter father is marrying a 'tiny-eared' weather-girl, and Haven isn't ready for this step. Her sister, Ashley, is marrying the last of a long stream of boyfriends, and throwing a fit every day. Haven's best friend has returned from camp, and has left Haven behind. Haven and Ashley's mom is considering going on holiday to Europe, leaving Haven feeling even more alone and confused. Out of the blue, Haven's favourite of Ashley's ex-boyfriends, Sumner, appears and helps Haven to make sense of everything. This is Dessen's first novel, and although i haven't read her others I certainly hope they're better than this. It's essentially a load of psychobabble about memories and transformation, which is material for an interesting teenage novel. There are just two interesting characters - Ashley and Sumner - and haven is just plain irritating with her constant snivelling about her height. Haven's narrative is often rambling, which is useful in hiding the fact that there is no real plot. The story goes absolutely nowhere and after I had skipped over the last few pages I was glad that That Summer had ended.

I liked this book. It wasnt the best one Sarah.has written, but it was still good. It jad a few boring parts honestly, but.if you read the whole book, you wont be disapointed :)

I actually got into this book because I'm a fan of Mandy Moore, who came out with a movie called How To Deal. It's actually based on this story & another of Sarah's novels, Someone Like You. Fell in love with the stories & the author. <3