That Summer is written by Sarah Dessen. She is an author for young adults and teens. Five of her books have been chosen as ALA Best Books for Young Adults. Her book The Truth About Forever was voted a YALSA Teen Top Ten book. She lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She also has her own website.
That Summer is a fiction novel that takes place in modern day. It doesn’t say what state but by the feel of the book I’m guessing somewhere sunny. The main character is Haven. Haven is almost six feet tall all skin and bones. Her sister Ashley was always bringing home boyfriends and was a popular girl at school while awkward Haven has her red-headed troublemaking best friend Casey that lives down the street. Haven has to forget the past and look forward to the future.
Haven feels like everything has gone wrong. Her mother and father got a divorce because her father was having an affair with one of his co-workers Lorena A.K.A the “Weather Pet.” Her father and Lorena are getting married and also having a baby. Ashley is also getting married to Lewis, a young sophisticated man, a surprising match considering Ashley is a wild party girl. Haven is always thinking of good times when her parents were married and one of Ashley’s boyfriend Sumner was around. Later in the novel Haven meets up with Sumner and he helps keep her sane. Even though there is a lot of trouble in between, Haven realizes that things aren’t as bad as she thought they’d be. Or are they?
The theme of That Summer is everything can change before you know it. Life isn’t always as easy. You also have to learn to love the body you’re In. There could be many different themes taken from this book.
That Summer has comedy, romance and other relatable things. I think it’s a great book for anyone. I think it is best for teens though. You can relate to a divorce. You can relate to an older sibling moving out. Some parts could also be emotional. But you can just read it for entertainment. I really recommend it. That Summer is one of the best books I’ve ever read because it was exciting.