That Summer

by Sarah Dessen (Goodreads author)

book data

2,338 ratings, 3.56 average rating, 182 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		23%
4		27%
3		32%
2		13%
1		3%

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published

April 6th 2006 (first published 2004) by Viking Juvenile

binding

Hardcover, 198 pages

isbn

0670061107 (isbn13: 9780670061105)

description

For fifteen-year-old Haven, life is changing too quickly. She's nearly six feet tall, her father is getting remarried, and her sister,the always perfe...more

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03/13/08

Lea rated it:

bookshelves: read-and-liked, ya

Read in June, 2006

This is a book that I really wish I had read at 15. While much of YA literature focuses on finding the right boy or the right outfit, That Summer is about a lot more than that. Haven's parents are recently divorced after her sportscaster father had an affair with the "weather pet" (that's the weather girl), and the novel is bookended by two weddings, that of her father and of her older sister, Ashley. At 15, Haven can see what her father has done and recognizes that Ashley's marriage i...more

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03/17/08

Snorkle rated it:

bookshelves: juvenile, read-2008

Read in March, 2008

15-year-old Haven has always thought of the past with fond memories. She continuously retreats to favorite memories, not realizing that they might be jaded from reality. With Haven's father getting remarried and her sister, Ashley's marriage looming in the distant future, something snaps in Haven and she feels like she can't go on. It's only when an unexpected person, Ashley's old boyfriend, Sumner pops back into her life, does she start to think that maybe things will go back to the way they we...more

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11/11/08

Katie Mitchell rated it:

Read in December, 2008

I’ve recently just read the book That Summer by Sarah Dessen. I’ve read many of Sarah’s books and this one is at the top of my list. This is just one of her many outstanding books. This book is about a girl whose life is going through many changes. She is not your typical teenage girl. She is fifteen and almost six feet tall! This book is how one thing can change the rest of your life.
Haven, an almost six foot giant, is the reason I loved this book. She is just like me, except I am...more I’ve recently just read the book That Summer by Sarah Dessen. I’ve read many of Sarah’s books and this one is at the top of my list. This is just one of her many outstanding books. This book is about a girl whose life is going through many changes. She is not your typical teenage girl. She is fifteen and almost six feet tall! This book is how one thing can change the rest of your life.
Haven, an almost six foot giant, is the reason I loved this book. She is just like me, except I am more on the shorter side. She is the reason I loved this book because some of the situations that she has to overcome are some of the same ones I’ve had to do in the past. For example, when her sister gets married, I’ve never had a sister but my aunt got married and I was really close to her just like Haven and her sister. Also when her mom and dad get a divorce and then her dad gets remarried. I’ve lived through that just like she has done. Haven is realizing that she has to learn to move forward with life instead of trying to go backwards.
Ashley, Haven’s sister, is another character in the book. Ashley is a bride to be. She is getting married to a really great guy named Lewis. Ashley has had many boyfriends in the past. She’s kind of a player. Ashley and Haven are really close. Now that Ashley is getting married her and Haven keeps drifting apart.
Mac McPhail, Haven’s father, is a sports anchor on channel five who recently got married to the weather women, which Haven refers to her as the “weather pet”, Lorna Queen. Mac McPhail only sees Haven once a week, Thursday, on their weekly dinner. Also some surprising news is Haven’s dad and Lorna is going to have a baby. Haven doesn’t feel to happen about this. She thinks that her father is starting over with his life and forgetting about his old one, and her.
Ashley and Mac McPhail are all interesting character, but the most important is Haven. Without her this book would not even exist. She is a good role model for teens that are going through the same situations she is. She is a person I would look up to.
The theme of this book is one thing can change your life forever. For example, when Haven’s mother and father get a divorced, that changes her life big time. Now since they got divorced her father got remarried. Another example is when her sister gets married to Lewis. Haven and her sister were real close but since the wedding was on the way they drifted apart.
This book is set in present day in Lakeview. It is also set during the summer. It’s the summer that changes Haven’s life forever.
I really wouldn’t call anybody a hero in this book but if I had to choose one it would be Sumner. Sumner is one of Ashley’s many boyfriends. Sumner is the hero in this book because he helps Haven out in a lot of ways. Sumner is always there when Haven is having one of her crisis. He always helps her through them. He is the hero of the book.
This book is set on real life, that’s why I loved this book. You get the idea of how one simple thing or a huge thing can change your life forever. It took me a while to get into the book but once I got going I couldn’t stop.
Ina perfect world Haven’s parents would not be divorced, her sister and her would be close even if she got married, and the weather pet would not be having Haven’s fathers baby. This is not a perfect and world and things like this happen every day. This book shows us how to cope and overcome such terrible situations. If you want to find out how to Haven overcome’s the obstacles in her crazy life you’ll just have to read the book!

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09/20/07

Kricket rated it:

bookshelves: 2007, bildungsroman, parent-woes, teen-fiction

Read in September, 2007

Sarah Dessen's first novel. Haven is such a great character. She's 15, and she has a crappy job at a children's shoe store, and her father and older sister are both marrying people she's not sure are right for them. Her best friend Casey returns from 4H camp with a long-distance boyfriend and a smoking habit. Haven's mother is thinking of selling her childhood home. With all the changes happening in the people Haven once relied on, she fixates on a particular time: a trip to Virginia Beach her f...more

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05/20/08

Graciela rated it:

Things are changing fast for fifteen year old Haven as her parents divorce, her father marries a younger woman, her sister is getting maried and moving out, and Haven just can't ignore the fact that she is nearly six feet tall and still growing. To shield herself from everything thatis happening, Haven starts clinging on to the memory of a summer vacation when her parents were still together, her sister was dating Sumner Lee, and when everything was great and perfect.
At least thats what Ha...more

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01/16/09

Jennifer rated it:

This book was okay. Nothing special really. It was Sarah Dessen's first novel and since she's super popular now, I'm sure she's gotten better. The things I liked about this book was that it wasn't about a teenage girl finding the cutest boy, the bestest friends or the cutest clothes. It was about a pivotal time in a teenage girls life where everything is changing around her and is totally out of her control. Divorces, babies, marriages, growth spurts, moving, these are all things that when you'r...more

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11/07/07

Imani Salina rated it:

Haven is a 16 year old monster. (Not really) she's just really tall which in her case makes her feel like a monster. But thats just on the outside, Haven can't stand the fact that his father just got a divorce and married in a time spand of 2 months. Haven can't stand the look on her moms facve everytime she sees her dad. then there Ashely her perfect sister with a perfect life, who is as well getting married, but in Haver's case to the wrong guy. Why is Haven so admamant about the "small"...more

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02/26/09

Anna added it

bookshelves: abandoned

The first book I started reading this semester was ‘That Summer’ by Sara Dessen. My English teacher told me I should read it because it was a love novel. I got to about the thirtieth page and stopped reading. I didn’t like it at all because of the story line. It was like stepping into a 7th Heaven episode. Everything was just way too perfect from the start. Maybe I should have kept reading it to see where the author was going to go with it. I do believe it is hard to read a book where you...more

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02/14/09

Kim rated it:

(review of isbn 0140386882)

bookshelves: all-time-favorites, young-adult

Read in January, 1998

One of the best books I have ever read, and a genuinely good trip through a teenage girl's head. Haven is going through a lot in this book and the way she reacts rings true--in my opinion, at least.
She doesn't go crazy and rebel, she doesn't fold up inside of herself. She deals with all of her crazy life changes by turning towards someone who makes her feel safe and nostalgic for her family's happy past. And when things fall apart, she is forced to face everything head on. Essentiall...more

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05/24/09

Rachel rated it:

(review of isbn 0140386882)

Read in May, 2009

recommended to Rachel by: Meghan
recommends it for: People willing to give good authors second chances

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I am not usually hip to the YA scene, and I only came across or read this book because Sarah Dessen is releasing a new book this summer, she's going to be nearby in Connecticut at a booksigning, and I am such a good friend that I will happily go with my BFF to CT to meet an author I don't know from a hole in the wall. So I felt a little obliged to read Dessen's first novel, That Summer, in order to prepare for the booksigning and meet-and-greet.

I was definitely forewarned that That S...more I am not usually hip to the YA scene, and I only came across or read this book because Sarah Dessen is releasing a new book this summer, she's going to be nearby in Connecticut at a booksigning, and I am such a good friend that I will happily go with my BFF to CT to meet an author I don't know from a hole in the wall. So I felt a little obliged to read Dessen's first novel, That Summer, in order to prepare for the booksigning and meet-and-greet.

I was definitely forewarned that That Summer suffered from something you may be familiar with, called First Novel Syndrome, or FNS for short. Books with FNS are, of course, first novels, and while they may show promise or the author displays recognizable talent, the book itself falls flat. Usually FNS cannot be diagnosed until the author's second or third books are out. I have it on Meghan's good authority that Dessen does outgrow That Summer's FNS, and her long "series" with its loyal following is certainly testament to her ability to write characters with which we can identify.

My problem is that I was identifying with the wrong character. Haven's older sister Ashley is due to get married at the end of the summer/the end of the book, and being fresh from my own wedding, I saw clearly the conflicts Ashley was having and the stress and emotions she was experiencing, and saying to myself, "Well if I had a younger sister and she was acting like Haven, I would wind up screaming at her too." Either thank the gods I have no younger sisters, or I am in better control of myself. Sometimes Ashley acted like a spoiled brat, and sometimes I wanted to tell her to just go ahead and stamp her foot and scream. Long-distance bridesmaid yanking your chain? -- Been there, done that, endured it, wanted to scream. Totally sympathize.

I couldn't in any way identify with Haven. Maybe it's because I'm not fifteen, and my life at fifteen was vastly different from Haven's. I don't know what it's like to be tall, or sharp-hipbones skinny, or have divorced parents or a summer job or a best friend who lives down the block, whom I can just walk out my front door and go for a walk with. Haven and I have nothing in common. Usually this is not a big deal for me, and I can find some patch of common ground with a well-written character, but I had absolutely no sense of what Haven was going through. Sometimes I had twinges of empathy, like when her new stepmother's pregnancy is announced on the 5 o'clock news (yet another betrayal by her dad, placing the faceless public before his own offspring from his first marriage), and Haven is at her best friend's house watching TV in the kitchen. I recognized the shock and pain and possibly abandonment Haven must have been feeling, and my heart briefly ached for her, but by the time Haven had stormed the block back to her house I'd lost that sense of connection with her. In the end, Haven's transformation, in which she grows in to a new stage of potential, felt awkward and arrested to me, not at all empowering. She becomes more sure of herself, more willing to stand up for herself and her feelings, but on the very last page she seems little more than a little girl crying, at her sister's wedding, because the circumstances of her life are changing and no one has asked her permission. She hasn't really been injured, but she acts like it; and I'm not sure those tears are tears of apology for the horrible ways she acted.

While the characters are generally well-written and I am sure that there is a block of readers who feel that Haven is their literary twin, I see clearly where That Summer is afflicted by FNS, in the easily-broken moments of identification with a character and in the ending, where I am sure I am missing something important. If I had been made to really feel myself in Haven's shoes, I think the ending would have been far more clear to me; as it was I was just confused and left with a let-down feeling. For a first novel, That Summer is pretty decent, Dessen shows a recognizable talent for illustrating everyday events and picking up boiling teenaged emotions, but the end result here felt cobbled-together and incomplete; one more short chapter could have gone a long way to helping me as a reader through Haven's transforming emotions, so I could be more a part of her blossoming as a developing character. I hope that Dessen's growing confidence as a writer will show in her following novels, and in fact I trust that it does.

In sum, That Summer is hopelessly afflicted with FNS, and if you are able to make peace with that there's a good chance you'll enjoy the book. Dessen has a deft touch with her characters, and I just feel like she was afraid to really get her hands dirty with Haven, like Haven would break if handled too roughly by her author. I haven't been left with such a bitter taste that I won't read more of Dessen's novels, or I won't enjoy attending her booksigning!(less)

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11/13/07

Jackie Greer rated it:

bookshelves: sarah-dessen

recommends it for: teenage girls

Haven's parents are getting devorced and her sister is getting married. All of this commotion is leaving her feeling out of place. but she will use this summer to rediscover herself and become the person she has always been.
Like most of Sarah Dessen's writing her characters are just crazy enough to be possible and her description of them is amazing. The random and spontaneous events keep you reading.

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02/08/09

Stephanie rated it:

bookshelves: own

In her fifteenth summer, Haven is nearing six feet tall and feeling every bit as awkward as a fish out of water. That summer is particularly tumultuous for her: in addition to her embarrassingly rapid growth spurt, she also has to suffer through two marriages, her father’s remarriage and her sister Ashley’s.

It’s hard for Haven to see her father moving into a new life with his new bride, leaving her and her mother behind. Meanwhile, Haven thinks that Ashley is being too selfish ...more

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12/07/08

Jessica rated it:

bookshelves: 2008

Read in December, 2008

First of all, I can tell that this is Sarah Dessen's first novel. After reading some of her later stuff first, and then reading this one, I can really see how much her writing has evolved. That being said, it was still good. I very much enjoyed it.

As someone who is six feet tall and also worked in the mall for eight years, I related to Haven right away. I've also always been the kind of person who idealized the past, so I understood Haven's connection to that summer at the beach, an...more

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01/31/09

Alysha Speer rated it:

bookshelves: confidence, misfortune, sad

Read in January, 2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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01/03/09

Mackenzie Pettinaro rated it:

Read in December, 2008

The Summer by Sarah Dessen is about a girl named Haven, growing up and understanding there are some things you cant change. She has alot of family problems such as her parents getting divorced. Her mom is going through a midnight crisis while her sportscaster father is marring the local weather girl and her sister is marring a guy she absolutely cannot stand. But before her family fell apart haven had a crush on sumner, her sisters ex boyfriend. While she still blames her sister for breaking his...more

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04/19/09

Lorelai rated it:

(review of isbn 0142401722)

Read in April, 2009

I have been wanting to read Sarah Dessen ever since seeing her title Just Listen appeared on the Readergrlz website. It This is definitely the kind of read to be enjoyed when looking for something well written and engaging. The story is about Haven who is 15 and just not feeling connected with the 15 year old body or mind she is in possession of. In a thoughtful manner, her introspection leads her to understand how to feel comfortable with the 15 year girl she is and all the changes that she has...more

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06/04/09

Dawn rated it:

Read in August, 2008

I didn't give this book a rating of 3/5 because I don't think it is a good book. I gave it a 3/5 because I don't really remember what happened in it. I remember reading it and not THAT long ago (last year sometime), but I don't remember anything important that happened in it. I read the back cover and I remember that, but it didn't bring back anything else from the plot.

I'm sure I liked how it was written. Sarah Dessen writes really well, but I wouldn't say this book was one of her b...more

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09/20/08

Nian rated it:

bookshelves: sept08-august09

Read in September, 2008

It’s not that there aren’t any new novels out that I couldn’t read, but I just felt like re-reading one of Sarah Dessen’s, especially since the new paperback issue featured a new and smooth cover. That Summer corresponds to the summer of changes: when Haven’s parents get divorced, her father remarries Lorna Queen of the weather channel, her sister Ashley is planning a wedding to boring Lewis, and Haven is experiencing a mega growth spurt.

A really nice debut novel. I’m no...more

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04/03/08

Lily rated it:

Read in February, 2008

I really enjoyed this book because not only did it focus on the ups and downs of relationships, but also body image and basically everything else that everyone thinks about.
After writing that sentence, I realize this sounds like another silly teen book. So what I really want to say is this:
The most interesting part about this book to me is that it is written in the point of view of the younger sister who is NOT living the popular media-encouraged life that most teen books discuss. It ...more

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02/12/09

Sophie Geyer rated it:

This review is for all the books by Sarah Dessen in my shelf except for one, whose name I can't remember. Sarah Dessen is a literary genius. She grasps the concept of writing. Her books are pure amazingness slash brilliance. I would recommend them to anyone who is a human. Although they start to run together, you should take the time to saturate your brain in their glory!

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quotes from this book

"Maybe not," she said as we came to the car. "But maybe that isn't so bad. You can't love anyone that way more than once in a lifetime. It's too hard and it hurts too much when it ends. The first boy is always the hardest to get over, Haven. It's just the way the world works." More quotes...