We'll Always Have Summer

March 14, 2011
Isabel (Belly) Conklin always knew she "would be Belly Fisher one day." She just didn't know which of the Fisher brothers she'd marry: Conrad, her first love, or younger brother Jeremiah, who caught her on the rebound. As fate would have it, Jeremiah is the one to propose marriage during the spring of Belly's first year in college. Following impulse rather than reason (or her mother's adamant protests), Belly accepts. However, her premarital bliss is undercut by the flicker of passion she still holds for Conrad. In Han's conclusion to the trilogy that began with The Summer I Turned Pretty, she both underscores the folly of getting engaged too young and vividly depicts the emotions of a girl on the brink of womanhood, impatient to make all of her dreams come true. If Jeremiah's frat-boy mentality is somewhat stereotyped, he remains an effective foil to the more pensive, sensitive Conrad. While Belly's final decision may not come as a surprise to readers, it will satisfy those who have followed her through each of her summers. Ages 12âup.

November 1, 2011
Gr 9 Up—-Isobel "Belly" Conklin has always known that someday she would marry a Fisher boy. First she loved Conrad, and then it was Jeremiah. In Jenny Han's sequel (2011) to "The Summer I Turned Pretty" (2010) and "It's Not Sumer without You" (2010, all S & S), Belly is turning 19 and has agreed to marry Jeremiah at the end of the summer, but her heart and mind keep going back to Conrad. In the final book of the "Summer Trilogy," we get a deeper look at the history of this triangle and discover where it ultimately ends. At times, Jessica Almasy's narration seems too young and Belly comes off as annoyingly naive. But, in many ways, that's the way she was written. When Jeremiah admits to sexual infidelity, Belly is hurt and upset, but he quickly proposes and she seemingly forgets her doubts and believes that marriage will somehow fix whatever was wrong with their relationship. Jeremiah comes across as so inconsiderate that Belly's unending devotion to him borders on the absurd. This light, entertaining read can stand on its own, but the character flaws come close to sinking the story.—"Genevieve Gallagher, Charlottesville High School, VA"

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2011

Can teenage love ever be forever?

Isabel (Belly) from The Summer I Turned Pretty (2009) and It's Not Summer Without You (2010) finishes up her freshman year at college somewhat unconvincingly committed to Jeremiah Fisher, one of the two brothers with whom she has spent summers since she was small. Isabel becomes furious to learn that Jeremiah had sex with another girl from their college in Cabo on spring break, but he wins back her affections with a grand gesture: a proposal of marriage. Caught up in the idea—she will plan a summer wedding! they will attend college as a married couple!—Isabel tries ignores her misgivings about Jeremiah, the appalled silence of her mother and her own still-strong feelings for Jeremiah's older brother, Conrad. It's both funny and believable when Jeremiah insists he wants to dance the wedding dance to "You Never Can Tell" from the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. Han gives a satisfying nod to wedding-planning fantasies even while revealing their flimsy basis for an actual marriage. A final chapter in 23-year-old Isabel's voice reveals the not-so-surprising happy ending.

Han's impressive ear for and pitch-perfect reproduction of the interactions between not-quite-adult older teens make this an appealing conclusion to this trilogy romance among bright middle-class young people. (Fiction. 12 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

April 15, 2011
Grades 9-12 After a brief but traumatic breakup, 20-year-old Jeremiah and 19-year-old Isabel decide to get married during a summer between college semesters. After all, theyve known each other since childhood, when their families shared a beach house. Yet Isabels first love was Jeremiahs older brother, Conrad, who had broken her heart three years earlier and disappeared to California. Does Conrads return to the beach house signal greater commitment or disaster for the young couple? Han has crafted a beautiful love story complete with a happy, if perhaps unexpected, ending. Her characters, authentic and full of depth, mature both individually and together as the pages turn. Both the storys young adults and their parents find themselves tested as Isabel faces a classic choice between the nice, reliable good guy and his more exciting, seemingly less compassionate brother. With the added pressure of wedding plans that march inexorably forward, this is a compelling page-turner of a romance.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2011
Now eighteen, Belly (The Summer I Turned Pretty, It's Not Summer Without You) has accepted her boyfriend Jeremiah's proposal and is planning their wedding. But Conrad, Belly's first love and Jeremiah's brother, reveals he still has feelings for her. In this multifaceted trilogy's conclusion, the love triangle sparks with tension as still-childish Belly must make some unenviable adult decisions.

(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2011

Gr 10 Up-In this conclusion to the trilogy, Isabel and Jeremiah are about to marry. Their families think they're too young and suspect that Belly is pregnant, an assumption that she, understandably, finds irksome. A virgin, she sees marriage as an act of defiance under the circumstances, and that's deep, for her. Readers know nothing of her personal ambitions (she's just finishing her freshman year at college) beyond teasing the affections out of Jeremiah and his older brother, both of whom are smitten with her. When Conrad shows up unexpectedly, Belly returns to the dilemma of the earlier books: Which one shall I choose, since both choose me? This is a bit cloying, as is the implication that the search for a life partner begins and ends next door. The Fishers and the Conklins raised their children together, Belly's the only girl (she has an older brother), and she has been looked after like a little sister by all three boys. As for the other characters, Taylor offers a sensible counterpoint to Belly as someone who questions her decision, but who winds up being just what she needs: a friend. Taylor makes her laugh, and offers comic relief as her wedding planner. The tension over whether or not this event is going to happen is well plotted. Both boys adore the protagonist, but in the end neither wants to fawn over her, which makes each a stand-up guy in his own right-and so much harder to choose between. While some might enjoy its fairy-tale essence of children turning into life mates, others might ask whether this series offers young women a path to independent adulthood beyond marrying Mr. Right.-Georgia Christgau, Middle College High School, Long Island City, NY

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.