Summertime Stars

Fiction (all genres) about Summer, when the reading is easy - resorts, romance, family secrets, etc.

Annotations are from Advance, the Ingram Book Magazine, unless noted.

• How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship & Musical Theater
  Author: Acito, Marc
  Publisher: Broadway $ 21.95 ISBN: 076791841X Date: 2004
  Kirkus PW
  Set in 1983, this is a deliciously funny romp of a novel about one overly theatrical and sexually confused New Jersey teenager's larcenous quest for his acting school tuition.
  Suggested Reading: Debuts
  Updated 9.6.04
• The Lake, the River and the Other Lake
  Author: Amick, Steve
  Publisher: Pantheon $ 25 ISBN: 0375423508 Date: 2005
  LJ
  As the lives and loves of the people of Weneshkeen--a once-quiet village on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan--unfurl, readers are treated to a big-hearted tale that is by turns uproariously funny and dark, and always poignantly real.
  Updated 4.7.05
• A Summer to Remember
  Author: Balogh, Mary
  Publisher: Delacorte $ 21.95 ISBN: 0385335350 Date: 2002
  Booklist
  Readers have been clamoring for the story of Lauren, the jilted bride from Balogh's One Night for Love. Now, the wait is finally over, for Lauren finds true love when she strikes a bargain with the handsome Viscount "Kit" Ravensberg.
  Updated 6.29.02
• Summertime
  Author: Barker, Raffaella
  Publisher: Random $ 24.95 ISBN: 0375503870 Date: 2002
  Library Journal
  In this delicious romantic comedy, a charming heroine offers hilarious and touching commentary on relationships, divorce, fashion, pets, and children as she copes with her chaotic family and fractured love life in rural England.
  Updated 4/1/02
• Before You Know Kindness
  Author: Bohjalian, Christopher
  Publisher: Crown $ 25 ISBN: 1400047455 Date: 2004
  Booklist
  For ten summers, the extended Seton family met at their country home in New Hampshire to spend a week together playing tennis and badminton and golf, and drinking gin and tonics on the homestead porch to celebrate the end of the season. But during the 11th summer, everything changes after a terrible accident.
  Updated 8.13.04
• Crazy in Alabama
  Author: Childress, Mark
  Publisher: Putnam $ 22.95 ISBN: 0399138552 Date: 1993
  PW
  The world turns upside down and everything goes a little crazy in this tale by the author of Tender about a hot, restless summer and an unforgettable woman who looks for salvation in Hollywood. "Hilarious and scary!"--Fannie Flagg.
  Updated 5.26.05
• Isle of Palms
  Author: Frank, Dorothea Benton
  Publisher: Berkley $ 22.95 ISBN: 0425191362 Date: 2003
  PW
  A hot summer turns into a steaming one in this long-awaited hardcover debut featuring characters from Dorothea Benton Frank's previous bestsellers, Sullivan's Island and Plantation.
  Suggested Reading: Romance Stars
  Updated 7.1.03
• Summer Secrets
  Author: Freethy, Barbara
  Publisher: Signet $ 6.99 (paper) ISBN: 0451410823 Date: 2003
  Booklist
  Bestselling author Freethy presents her most powerful contemporary novel: the story of three unique sisters, the secrets that bind them for life, and the summer that will set them free.
  Updated 5.14.03
• 4 Corners
  Author: Freund, Diane
  Publisher: Macadam Cage $ 25 ISBN: 0967370183 Date: 2001
  Kirkus
  It's August 1953 in Four Corners, New York, when Rainey's mother is hospitalized for mental instability--or, as Rainey's father puts it, when the doctors say she needs a good long rest. This starts a summer of enlightenment for Rainey when she learns about the realities of life through the eyes of innocence.
  Updated 8/14/01
• The Water Dancers
  Author: Gamble, Terry
  Publisher: Morrow $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060542667 Date: 2003
  Booklist
  Told in a voice as clear and cool as lake water, The Water Dancers is a luminescent tale of love, loss, and redemption, and heralds the arrival of a remarkable new talent.
  Suggested Reading: Adult Books for Teens | Summertime Stars
  Updated 5.14.03
• Leeway Cottage
  Author: Gutcheon, Beth
  Publisher: Morrow $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060539054 Date: 2005
  The critically acclaimed author of More Than You Know returns with a powerful family drama set in a Victorian summer house in Maine.
  Updated 5.26.05
• As Hot As It Was You Ought To Thank Me
  Author: Kincaid, Nanci
  Publisher: Back Bay $ 12.95 ISBN: 0316009148 Date: 2005
  Booklist
  From a place where you don't have to run away to find yourself, this novel's young heroine, Berry, joins the ranks of other memorable and spirited girl narrators such as Bone in Bastard Out of Carolina, Kaye Gibbon's Ellen Foster, Lily Owens in The Secret Life of Bees, Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird.
  Updated 11.2.04
• Windchill Summer
  Author: Mailer, Norris Church
  Publisher: Random $ 24.95 ISBN: 0375503196 Date: 2000
  PW
  Absorbing summer reading for fans of Bailey White and Lee Smith: A fresh and funny debut novel that brings to life a host of unforgettable characters coming of age in a small town in Arkansas during the summer of 1969.
  Suggested Reading: Debuts
  Updated 4/13/00.
• Summer Gone
  Author: Macfarlane, David
  Publisher: Crown $ 23 ISBN: 0517702622 Date: 2000
  Kirkus PW
  This haunting novel about love experienced and love remembered is also an unforgettable celebration and evocation of the brief beauty of a northern summer.
  Updated 3/21/00.
• The Beach House
  Author: Monroe, Mary Alice
  Publisher: Mira $ 6.50 ISBN: 1551668998 Date: 2002
  PW
  Caretta Rutledge abandoned her Southern roots and troubled family long ago. Now, as her own life takes a turn for the worse, Caretta finds herself heading back to the beach house where she spent her childhood summers. There, Caretta renews old acquaintances and reconnects with her ailing mother, learning life's most precious lessons in the process.
  Updated 4/5/02
• In the Cherry Tree
  Author: Pope, Dan
  Publisher: Picador $ 14 (trade paper) ISBN: 0312422369 Date: 2003
  LJ
  With a wholly original voice, this stunning debut novel captures the overwhelming transformation from childhood to adolescence.
  Suggested Reading: Fiction & Mystery Debuts
  Updated 9.08.03
• The Perfect Summer
  Author: Rice, Luanne
  Publisher: Bantam $ 7.50 (paper) ISBN: 0553584049 Date: 2003
  PW
  The "New York Times" bestselling author of "Firefly Beach" delivers this dazzling original paperback novel that explores the mysteries hidden within a marriage and the enduring powers of heart and home.
  Updated 7.8.03
• A Summer Affair
  Author: Wiggs, Susan
  Publisher: Mira $ 6.99 (paper) ISBN: 155166710x Date: 2003
  PW Booklist
  Isabel Fish-Wooten arrives at Blue Calhoun's surgery with a gunshot wound suffered in a shootout. He treats her wounds and thinks that he's seen the last of the troublesome woman until he finds her unconscious in his barn. Will he save her from the police and herself?
  Suggested Reading: Romance Stars
  Updated 8.13.03
• Summer in the Country
  Author: Willett, Marcia
  Publisher: St Martins $ 24.95 ISBN: 031228781x Date: 2003
  Booklist
  In this spellbinding tale born of the difficulties endured by both mothers and daughters, a woman is abandoned by her mother as a child but now the prodigal mom returns. Her summer lodger is also concealing a painful past with stunning repercussions.
  Updated 5.14.03