That Summer

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Summary: 'That Summer,' a great book
Review: This book has so many great things going for it- it's warm, flowing, and observant. Haven's voice is so real; she a girl we can all relate to, at least in part. Dessen's writing style, especially the introduction at the beginning, will draw you into Haven's life and reads like poetry. 'That Summer' deals with so many issues on so many levels, such as Haven's father's remarraige, her mother's tranformation, her friend's return as a very different girl, her sister's marraige to dull Lewis, her job, her past, and stereotypes. Nothing and no one escape Haven's observations; some will make you angry or sad, but most leave you laughing. This book is sweet and sad without being sappy, and the characters are all well-drawn, although perhaps a bit stereotypical.
You'll find yourself rooting for Sumner to make everything perfect again, just like that summer. Its ending isn't too pat- issues are resolved, one way or the other, but you still have some questions on your lips and tears in your eyes. Although its title may tell you otherwise, this book is a great read for anybody, any time of the year. Read and savor it. Then go back and read it again.

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Summary: Dessen's First Novel Gripping and Endearing
Review: That Summer is a tale of self-appreciation discovery of everything that is good in the world (and everything that isn't). The lead character, Haven, is a fifteen-year-old girl struggling to figure out many things. Her father and mother have divorced and that summer her father is marrying "The Weather Pet," the woman he left Haven's mother for. Haven's sister is also marrying, growing up and turning into another person before Haven's eyes.

During "that summer," Haven runs into her sisters first "real" boyfriend Sumner and wonders why Ashley had to ruin everything with him. Between her menial job and quiet suffering as the family black sheep, her unending lateral growth and her basic distaste for Ashley's fiance, Haven discovers that some things never turn out the way we'd like them to, usually not by our own admonition. As the most outstanding of Sarah Dessen's novels for young adults, That Summer makes a great summer read.

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Summary: "That Summer"- B/R
Review: "That Summer" was about a girl named Haven. Haven is a fifteen-year-old who is going through a lot of bad changes in her life. Her life is very similar to other teenagers lives in our world today. She would always get picked on at school because of how tall and thin she was. Also, the changes she was going through seemed pretty sad. She was dealing with her parents getting a divorce and her father re-marrying and her sister getting married for the first time. It was summer time for her, and there was two weddings going on. One of the weddings was for her father and Lorna Queen, and ther other was for her sister and Lewis Warsher. She wasn't all that happy.

I truly enjoyed reading this book by Sarah Dessen. I loved it so much because it was hilarious. Well, it was not only hilarious, but the story was also sad, very heart warming, and also sweet as well. Reading this book has reminded me a lot about the character Mia Thermopolis from "The Princess Diaries" by Meg Cabot. The way that she was getting picked on at school because of how weird she looked was exactly what was happening to Mia. I really like reading books about teenagers lives. I like to see what happens and what they go through. That's why i enjoyed reading this book.

My favorite part in this book would be in chapter eleven. In chapter eleven, they are apparently only three days away from her sister Ashley's wedding. She talks about how everyone was kind of stressing themselves out, and how they were trying to get everything done before the wedding. The funny part was when she was describing how her father looked when he and his new wife, Lorna came back from the Bahamas. She said,"My father came back with even more hair, a sunburn,..." I always love reading the funny parts. It reminded me of my grandpa. He barely had any hair. That was one good laugh!

Rating:
Summary: That Summer
Review: That Summer by Sarah Dessen is about a fifteen-year-old girl names Haven. Before her parents's divorce, summer was a time of happiness, but the summer infront of her just adds to more chaos in her life. It's the summer of two weddings: her father's to Lorna Queen(the local blond and perky television meteorlogist who wears cute little pastel suits that accent her legs) and her sister's to an extremely boring male named Lewis Warsher. Haven doesn't wnderstand how her sister, Ashley, can see anything in him. As a "trying to find herself" teenager, Haven can't help but look back at the blissful days of past summers. That was when Ashley dated Sumner lee, who made everything fun and made Haven feel special. Out of no where, Sumner and Ashley ended their romance. During the summer of two weddings, Sumner reappears. Sumner is the link to Haven's favorite times and the sister she is about to lose. She uses Sumner as a way to forget about her upside-down world and learns that she has feelings for her sister's ex-boyfriend.
i enjoyed reading That Summer because I thought the author, Sarah Dessen, used a unique style of writting. She went into just enough depth to keep the reader's attention and also expressed Haven's feelings really well. At the beginning of the novel, Dessen writes about several events that aren't that sighnificant until they reach their full complexity towards the end of the novel and tie together. I believe this story can relate to several teenagers. Several teens are trying to find themselves. In this novel, Haven understands what happened to her in the summer and learns not to stress the little stuff in life. Her hardest obstacle was getting over her first boyfriend, but Ashley convinced her that life goes on. If you become depressed over issues life breaking up with your first boyfriend, you could miss out on the good of life. I recommend this novel to teenagers trying to find themdelves.

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Summary: That Summer
Review: Have you ever been at the age of about 15 and just felt happy, sad, scared, nervous, and excited all at the same time? This is how Haven, a 6 foot tall 15 year old girl feels in the book, That Summer, by Sarah Dessen.
Her father just got remarried to the wheather girl he had an affair with, her "perfect" sister is getting married to this dull and boring guy, and her mother is thinking of selling their house. Her house is crazy and Haven cannot comprehend why all these things are going the way they're going: all wrong. She can't help but wonder why her sister isn't marrying Sumner, the perky, always fun to be with guy that she dated 2 summers ago.
Then one night, she's at dinner with her dad when she sees Sumner. Thery talk for about a 1/2 hour and over the course of the summer run into each other more and more. Now that they're so close, she can't help but think, does she love him? Can she replace her sister's fiance with him? Is her stepmom really
pregnant now? And why is no one paying any attention to her?
In this book, you really relate to what she's going through and feel like you're going along for the ride with her. There's so much going on, you can never get bored. It's a good easy read for all ages, but is best for teenagers.

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Summary: That Summer by Sarah Dessen
Review: The book, That Summer by Sarah Dessen was honestly one of the best books I have ever read. It was about a 15 year old girl named Haven who dealt with everyday situations just like teen- agers like us really do. She was dealing with the fact of always getting picked on because of how tall and thin she was and battleing with her parents getting a divorce, her father re-marrying, and now her older sister,Ashley, getting married and leaving the house. With everything that's going on Haven always finds comfort when she thinks back to that summer when Ashley and Sumner,(Ashleys old high school boyfriend) go on a trip to Virginia Beach. Where everyone was happy and having fun. She just wishes that things were like they used to be. Months later Haven starts to see Sumner around more aften, after him not being around because of Ashley breaking up with him. Haven now sees Sumner in a totaly different way and feels like he's the only one who understands her. Shortly after that things start to heat up again and Haven gets her point acrossed out to everyone about how she really feels.
Dessen did an incredible job with writing this book, and describing her character's. Most of the time I actually felt like I was right there captured in the story. In my opinion I thought she really reached out and made teen-age girls know that they aren't the only ones facing problems like that in everyday life. I totaly reccommend this book to all teen-age girls who are in for a unique and dreamy treat.

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Summary: My favorite by Ms. Dessen!
Review: I have read That Summer twice & loved it. Two years ago I read it for school & recently bought it & read it again. I realized & remembered just how much I loved it. I loved what was going on inside the main characters head & the symbolism & how it showed that we all have so much to learn & how one person or one summer can change your life forever. That Summer is a beautiful novel & the best I have read by the author & it fully deserves the five stars.

Rating:
Summary: That Summer
Review: Sarah Dessen is a marvelous writer who puts thought and feeling into her novels. That Summer is about 15 year old Haven, already at 5'11, and coming close to 6 foot. She thinks of herself as a giant, but her sister Ashley, on the other hand, lives the life of a barbie. She has cool friends, a sweet fiance, and everything seems to be going her way. But Haven can't help thinking about one summer, THE summer of her life. And with that summer comes a special person, Sumner, that can link the present to the past, take her back to that week on vacation, to the sunshine beach, and to That Summer.

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Summary: What A Great Summer Book!
Review: "That Summer" by Sarah Dessen is a great book. It is about a 15 year old girl named Haven who is facing a whole lot of problems--her height (She is almost 6 feet tall), her father getting married, AND her sister getting married also, to a boring Lewis Warsher, who just makes her sister Ashley seem as boring as him. Her frind Casey also returns from summer camp as a different person that Haven has to get to know all over again.

Nothing seems to be going right for her until one of Ashley's old boyfriends name Sumner, who made a lot more sense as Ashley's boyfriend then Lewis does, shows up again. He shows her that everything isn't as bad as it seems, and makes her feel better about her summer.

This book is a good read that you will probably be able to finish in 3 days, tops. It is so good that you won't want to put it down!

Rating:
Summary: Great book, characters are easy to identify with
Review: I like this book a lot. It's about a girl named Haven and all the stuff that's happening to her that particular summer. In the book, she's the same age as I am now, and it was really easy for me to identify with some of the things she was going through. For example, I have an older sister who doesn't like me like her, and my older sister has also had a lot of boyfriends like Ashley, Haven's older sister. It was fun to see her struggle and make choices, and in the end, everything turned out great. I loved this book.