Book Talk #2

The Summer I Turned Pretty

Summary: This book is actually three books in one. The stories are about a girl named Isabel (Belly), her older brother Steven and her mother who spend every summer with their mother's best friend, Susannah and her two sons, Jeremiah and Conrad at a beach house. For as long as she can remember, Belly has been in love with Conrad, the older of the two and Jeremiah has always been her best friend. Conrad is the bad boy. He's tall, has dark hair, and this summer he is constantly in his room when he isn't busy smoking or getting drunk. Another difference this summer is Jeremiah is acting awkward around Belly and she, stupidly, can't figure out why. Nothing really happens until Belly gets a boyfriend named Cam and tension builds in her relationships with both Conrad and Jeremiah. Secrets start to reveal themselves from all of the characters including Conrad and Jeremiah's mom, Susannah. Jeremiah and Belly eventually end up dating and have some highs and lows like any relationship does. But is Jeremiah who Belly ends up with at the end of the trilogy?

Rationale: I chose this book because it is a coming of age novel and I think it is a great book for teen girls to relate to. Belly is a girl who is dealing with secrets, a love triangle, and just figuring out her feelings in general. I think girls who are between, maybe 12-18 would relate best to this book. Belly herself is 16 in the first book. 12-18 is a general age for girls to start dating, figuring out what they aren't looking for in relationships, figuring out who they are as individuals. And even though figuring out these types of things go beyond the age of 18, I feel like the range of 12-18 is where that process starts. I feel like this book could be important for teen girls because of how relatable it is with what Belly goes through as a teen girl herself. Boys could read this book too, heck, even my 12-year-old brother wants to read it, but I think girls would better relate to it because it follows the story of a teenage girl and her summers that are filled with romance, heartbreak, confusion and everything that seems to come with being a girl. 

Teaching Ideas: I personally would not teach this in a classroom just because it seems more like a book someone would read for pleasure and not for a class. However, if I were to teach it, I would maybe do a lesson on themes and see what kinds of themes my students could see throughout the book. Themes like friendship, love and moving on are themes that could be talked about in this book. Or, perhaps a lesson on conflicts. Internal and external conflicts are both very apparent in this story and students could find specific quotes and explain how it is either internal or external. 

Challenges: A challenge that could arise with using this book is parents feeling like underage drinking and smoking are being promoted. There will be challenges with at least one parent I'm sure, but it is not that the book is promoting it. In fact, if they would actually read the book, it shows how much of a negative affect drinking and smoking have on the character that does it. If anything, this book should show the students the dangers of drinking and smoking and the affect it could have on your emotions. However, I would definitely try my best to have a meeting and talk with the parent(s) before they wanted to take it straight the administrators. I would like to have a chance to explain my perspective, listen in person to what the parent has to say and see if we could come up with some kind of compromise for their child. I really enjoyed this book, and I think most teen girls would, too. It really is a PG written story and it was very fun to read. It's always nice to be taken into someone else's world to escape your own. Even better if you can relate to something a character is going through.