Book #24 – Seventeenth Summer – the end
While I was reading the last bit of Seventeenth Summer this week I realized that I probably wouldn’t have liked the book all that much if it had been written during a later time period but still took place in the 1930′s. But Maureen Daley was right in that moment when she wrote the book, and she brings you into that moment, too.
Angie is a shy, quiet 17-year old, who has never really fit in with the other kids in her town. She went to an all-girls school outside of town, so she didn’t get to know many of the kids in the area. And she has three sisters, so there was always someone around the house that she could talk to or spend time with.
Then at the beginning of one summer, her seventeenth summer, she meets Jack. With Jack, Angie is suddenly in the middle of the in-crowd – going to parties, dances, hanging out at Pete’s. While the book is about Angie and Jack’s romance, I think it’s more about how Angie grows up in all these situations. By making friends outside of her family and trying new things, she starts to get an idea of who she is as an individual. I loved watching her become more confident in what she said and more sure of her decisions. When she leaves for college at the end of the book (I don’t think that’s really a spoiler, is it?), she’s a completely different person than she was when she first glimpsed Jack back in June.
I also loved how descriptive the book was. I almost wish I had read it in the middle of winter instead, so I could be transported from the dark, cold, miserable days of winter to the bright, fragrant, promise-filled days of summer.
My rating: 7.8/10
Next up – I’m not quite sure. I went to the library today for the first time in forever and picked up a Classic romance, an Action/Mystery romance, and a Vampire (non-Twilight) romance.
