By Sarah Dessen
Balzer + Bray, 2019. 440 pages. Young Adult
With her father leaving the country and her summer plans falling through, Emma Saylor Payne is stuck with nowhere to go. She ends up at North Lake, staying the summer with the grandmother she hasn’t seen since her mother’s funeral. As she reconnects with old family and friends, Emma Saylor realizes that there was far more to her mother’s life than she previously realized, and that North Lake has some major socio-economic divides she was previously unaware of. Not only does Emma Saylor find a spirit of her mother about the place, but she also starts to rediscover parts of herself she forgot existed.
This was such a charming story of self-discovery and empathy. Emma Saylor starts with such a narrow view of her mother’s family, but as she hears other people’s stories, and learns more about her own story, she realizes her mother’s life wasn’t quite as black and white as she originally believed. The deep character growth is exactly what I want in a novel like this. The side characters are delightful, and the setting feels realistic. Overall a wonderful contemporary read I could easily recommend.
ACS
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