The Summer I Turned Pretty (2009) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

show spoilers

Summary edit see section history

Characters edit see section history

show spoilers

• Belly Conklin: Belly is a girl who always wanted to fit in. Every summer, she and her brother (Steven), their mom (Laurel), their mom's best friend (Susannah) and her two boys (Conrad and Jeremiah) go up to Susannah's beach house. Belly has always felt out of place being the only girl, but this summer Belly has turned "pretty" and she feels like everything has changed.
• Jeremiah Fisher: The youngest of the two Fisher brothers. Jeremiah has always been a clown, a go-between when Belly is upset by the other two boys. He and Belly are best friends.
• Conrad Fisher: Belly's first crush, oldest brother of the Fisher family who acts as if he is too cool for Belly, spends most of his time in his room playing guitar or listening to music. He treats Belly like a little sister for most of the novel.
• Laurel Dunne: Belly and Steven's mom and best friend of Susannah. She's the only person who calls Susannah "Beck." She and Belly's father are divorced.
• Susannah Beck: Mother of Conrad and Jeremiah and best friend of Laurel. She refers to Belly as "the daughter she never had" and feels that Belly is destined to end up with one of her boys. Susannah is one of Belly's favorite people in the world.
• Cam Cameron: A boy who Belly meets at Clay's party. He remembers her from eighth grade at the National Latin Convention. Cam took first place in oration at the convention and now studies whales. He's straight-edge, meaning he doesn't drink or do drugs.
• Steven: Belly's big brother and best friend of the Fisher boys. He leaves partway through the novel to go look at colleges with his dad.
• Taylor Jewel: Best friend of Belly, depicted as a boy-obsessed airhead who flirts with every guy she sees. She comes down to visit at the beach house for a week one summer.
• Mr. Fisher: Conrad and Jeremiah's dad; he doesn't stay at the Cousins house long-term.
• Belly: Isabel "Belly" Conklin visits her family at the Summer House. She still flashes back to her first love, Conrad. Belly tells you about the present and past summers. Belly debates on letting go of Conrad, or chasing after him again.
• Belly: Belly has matured a lot in the past year, and returning to her family friends beach house for summer like she has since she is little, but this time her family friends two brothers around her age have eyes for her. Belly has had a crush on one of the brothers in particular Conrad. Throughout the summer Belly experiences teenage love, difficulties in relationships, and it truly means to grow up.
• Claire Cho: Add a description of this character.
• Flavia
• Sean Kirkpatrick
• Angie: Some random redhead who was in charge of a ring-toss stall.
• Christi Turnduck
• Aubrey: Conrad's ex
• Greg Kinsey
• Yolie
• Claude: Belly's family's,mostly her dad's, cat
• Kat
• Granna: Belly and Steven's grandmother,i.e,the mother of their father. She loves Laurel deeply and regrets that they are now separated. She does everything in her power to get them back together.
• Mary giggles
• Reeve Tabatsky
• Rennie
• Lillia
• Alex Lind
• Katie
• Nicole

Quotes edit see section history

• “"Moments, when lost, can’t be found again. They’re just gone."”

  Belly

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• Sometimes it’s like people are a million times more beautiful to you in your mind. It’s like you see them through a special lens—but maybe if it’s how you see them, that’s how they really are. It’s like the whole tree falling in the forest thing.

  Highlighted by 174 Kindle customers

• Moments, when lost, can’t be found again. They’re just gone.

  Highlighted by 121 Kindle customers

• It’s hard to throw away history. It was like you were throwing away a part of yourself.

  Highlighted by 112 Kindle customers

• My whole life was measured in summers. Like I don’t really begin living until June, until I’m at that beach, in that house.

  Highlighted by 87 Kindle customers

• The old pull, the tide drawing me back in. I kept getting caught in this current—first love, I mean. First love kept making me come back to this, to him. He still took my breath away, just being near him. I had been lying to myself the night before, thinking I was free, thinking I had let him go. It didn’t matter what he said or did, I’d never let him go.

  Highlighted by 77 Kindle customers

• “Best friends are important. They’re the closest thing to a sister you’ll ever have,”

  Highlighted by 68 Kindle customers

• “for whatever we lose (like a you or a me) / it’s always ourselves we find in the sea.”

  Highlighted by 63 Kindle customers

• He made it so hard not to love him. When he was sweet like this, I remembered why I did. Used to love him, I mean. I remembered everything.

  Highlighted by 58 Kindle customers

• I wondered if this was the way old crushes died, with a whimper, slowly, and then, just like that—gone.

  Highlighted by 58 Kindle customers

• Smirky mouths make you want to kiss them, to smooth them out and kiss the smirkiness away. Or maybe not away . . . but you want to control it somehow. Make it yours. It was exactly what I wanted to do with Conrad. Make him mine.

  Highlighted by 31 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Susannah's beach house: White, old looking house, with a sort of charm to it.
• Beach house pool: Here, Belly and the boys spend a lot of time swimming and tanning.
• Beach: Along with the house, the Fishers also owns a strip of beach that only they can use.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

Followed by It's Not Summer Without You.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Jenny Han (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• ALA Best Book for Young Adults (2010)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PZ7.H18944 Su 2009
• Dewey: 813

Notes for Parents edit see section history

A fairly clean book although a little language and partying/drug reference. I would recommend this for people ages 12-16

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Children's Books › People & Places › Social Situations › Friendship › Fiction
• Books › Teens › Social Issues › Being a Teen
• Books › Children's Books › People & Places › Family Life
• Books › Children's Books › Literature

More Books Like This edit see section history