Summerlost

Cedar Lee and her younger brother Miles and their mom are spending the summer in Iron Creek, where their mom grew up; it's their first summer without their dad and younger brother Ben, who were both killed in a car crash. Ben was "special" - Cedar describes some of his behaviors, and her fierce love for him comes through, even as she admits she sometimes wished him gone.

In Iron Creek, Cedar makes friends with another 12-year-old, Leo Bishop, who is working at the Summerlost Shakespeare festival to earn money for a ticket to London to see a famous Shakespearean actor in Hamlet. Cedar joins Leo in working at Summerlost, where she also volunteers with Meg in Costumes; Cedar and Leo also team up to give unofficial tours about actress show more Lisette Chamberlain, Iron Creek's most famous late resident.

Quotes

I didn't know what I wanted, except to go back to how things used to be, and that could never happen, but I wanted it so bad that it didn't leave room to want much else. (21)

"Whenever you do something and you're not an adult, people tell you to stop. Even when there's no real reason." (Leo to Cedar, 103)

"You don't know to know someone all the way to miss them. Or to feel bad that they're gone." (Leo, 116)

"You can't walk away every time they bother you. Sometimes there's nowhere to go." (Leo, 133)

I pretended that the whole world had secret tunnels, where people could walk straight to wherever they really wanted to be and ignore all the meanness in the middle. (137)

Until I met Leo I hadn't known you could understand someone so different from you so well. (190)

It's not right that something so big, your entire life, depends on a million tiny things. (211) show less

Beautifully written, this middle grade book is about recovering from grief, finding a person who understands you, and belonging to a family even if you feel different from everyone else in it. I loved the way this book tackles friendship, the power of a Shakespeare festival, and finding out where you fit in when there’s been upheaval in your life. There’s a feeling of THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER in the quest that develops in the costume room. A special book.

Still grieving over the recent deaths of her father and brother, twelve-year-old Cedar takes a summer job selling programs at a Shakespeare festival, makes a new friend, and searches for the solution to an old mystery.

This book exhibits strong character development, particularly in how Cedar and her family handle their grief. I also liked the setting, which was basically a fictionalization of the Utah Shakespeare Festival. However, I'm always bemused at otherwise realistic stories in which children as young as twelve find actual, formal jobs. Maybe I should give this book the benefit of the doubt -- after all, I've never looked into Utah's child labor laws. But it's a pet peeve that takes me right out of the story.

Pet peeves aside, show more there's plenty to like about this book, and I found it a good read for the start of summer. show less

I very much liked this tale of grief, healing and friendship. Cedar, her younger brother Miles, and their mother lost their father/husband and brother/son a year ago in a car accident. Spending their summers in their mother's home town of Iron Creek, their mother now purchases a home where they can return each year.

When Cedar notices a boy dressed in period clothing, she follows him to the site of the Summerlost Shakespearean festival. At first thinking of Leo as a "nerd on a bike", over the summer, as Cedar works with Leo at the festival, she grows to understand and appreciate him.

Leo introduces Cedar to a love of Shakespeare and fine acting. They both sell programs at the festival, and Leo tells Cedar of a local actress who made it show more big and then died tragically in a room at a local hotel. She joins him in the obsessiveness of wanting to learn how she died.

Together, they go behind the back of their manager and insert a flier regarding their behind the scenes presentation of the life of Lisette Chamberlain.

This is a sweet story of small town childhood, of children who come to know and appreciate each other. There is nothing dramatic about the tale of children finding friendship and trying to move on through grief while still celebrating what was lost. show less

Thank you so much to the publisher and to Edelweiss for supplying this ARC!
If I could give this book ten stars, I would!
We all deal with grief in different ways, but the way this 12 year old moves through it is both heartbreaking and beautiful. Ally Condie hit the mark!
She pulls the reader into this sweet story quickly, letting us experience Cedar as she embarks on a summer adventure, filled with mystery, that will prove to bring healing in a way she never imagined.
The fact that is takes place during a Shakespeare festival is just icing on the cake.
I don't want to include any spoilers, but suffice it to say that readers, young and old, who read this book will reflect on it for years to come. It's insights will help those who grieve and show more those who have yet to grieve.
Brava, Ms Condie!
And don't forget to read the acknowledgements! Those make this book come to life in a different sort of way.
Thank you Ms Condie, for this beautifully written, heartfelt piece of you. show less

I absolutely loved the Matched trilogy, so when I heard of Ally Condie's middle-grade novel Summerlost, I knew I ad to give it a try. This book broke my heart in all the right ways. It was so much deeper and emotional than I thought it would be. I connected deeply with Cedar and the other characters, which is rare for me in books at this level. I am so glad I picked up this book- it is a rare treasure in the middle-grade novel world.

So, I went through an accidental phase of reading some really well written, sad but hopeful realistic fiction this Spring and this in one of the best of them. Summerlost has great boy and girl characters that avoid stereotypes and perfectly capture summertime friendships. Fans of theater will also love this story!
Summary:
It's the first real summer since the devastating accident that killed Cedar's father and younger brother, Ben. But now Cedar and what’s left of her family are returning to the town of Iron Creek for the summer. They’re just settling into their new house when a boy named Leo, dressed in costume, rides by on his bike. Intrigued, Cedar follows him to the renowned Summerlost theatre festival. Soon, she not only has a show more new friend in Leo and a job working concessions at the festival, she finds herself surrounded by mystery. The mystery of the tragic, too-short life of the Hollywood actress who haunts the halls of Summerlost. And the mystery of the strange gifts that keep appearing for Cedar.

Infused with emotion and rich with understanding, Summerlost is the touching middle grade debut from Ally Condie, the international bestselling author of the Matched series, that highlights the strength of family and personal resilience in the face of tragedy. show less