Summerlost

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

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.

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

This realistic fiction novel takes place over a summer as healing and hope are needed.

Cedar’s father and brother were killed over a year ago. Her mother buys a home in her hometown, Iron Creek, for them to live in each summer. They all need to heal and find a new “place” for them to be who they are as individuals and as a family after the tragedy. Cedar and her brother, Miles, are careful around their mother, not ever wanting to upset her, so Cedar sees a summer of babysitting her brother. That’s fine. Cedar then sees a boy on a bike (dubbed Nerd-on-a-bike) everyday at the same time, dressed in ridiculous clothes, with a smile on his face, going the same way. Her life changes when she decides to follow him.

Leo works at the show more Summerlost Festival, a Shakespearean festival, that performs shows twice a day. He loves meeting the people and competing with others to make the most money. He sells programs and is the best one there; he’s also obsessed with a famous dead actress from Iron Creek, Lisette Chamberlain. When Leo confronts Cedar wondering why she was following him, she confesses that she was curious. She decides to work there as well, undergoes a quick interview, and begins work that night. They become fast friends who spend a great deal of time together. Leo needs money, so he hatches a tour that he’ll sell to people who want to see where Lisette lived and worked and then died mysteriously.

Cedar and Leo are also curious as to what really happened to Lisette. Leo’s positive and happy demeanor are exactly what Cedar needs and their questions about Lisette keep her focused on something more interesting than the deaths of her family members. Cedar has her own mystery as well. Is Lisette’s ghost in contact with her dead brother? Because someone is leaving objects that Ben would have loved on her windowsill.

This is a really nice novel. I like that the characters are normal; they aren’t experimenting with anything or from “bad” families. They genuinely love their parents, are being raised with love, and they act like kids--good kids. This is a stand-alone novel, so you have a nice ending. If you like sweet, realistic stories, that aren’t long, give this a try. I think you’ll like it 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.