Themes of freedom and responsibility twine between the lines of this short but heavy novel from the author of Because of Winn-Dixie (2000). A worthy theme, but the chief attractions here are the appealing cast and droll humor.

Seeing everyone else building new lives, Haven starts to think about her own future, too. Haven enjoys a nicely articulated love/hate relationship with her sister, ostensibly a superficial cheerleader type who turns out to be wiser than she seems she helps Haven shake off her dependence on a memory (not entirely accurate, as it turns out) of idyllic happiness. Suddenly, Sumner is back, as charming and comforting as ever can he rekindle that memory's magic? Displaying a flair for evocative names and well-timed plot twists, Dessen takes her tall and usually levelheaded teen through two weddings and a succession of disturbing, often comic, surprises, to a climactic explosion. To shield herself, Haven clings to the memory of a summer vacation to Virginia Beach three years ago, when her family was still together and Sumner Lee, the best of Ashley's legion of boyfriends, came along. The winds of change are blowing bitterly around 15-year-old Haven as her parents break up, her father marries a younger woman, her sister Ashley turns into a termagant as her wedding approaches, and her own body becomes a stranger, topping 5' 11'' in a sustained growth spurt. A teenager reluctantly learns to face forward rather than back in this refreshing, unusually perceptive debut.

That Summer by Sarah Dessen