Did I like it? Yes!
You'll love it if you liked: That Summer by Sarah Dessen, Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants by Ann Brashares
Aura: Emotional, Heartwrenching
Read If: A summer story with a balanced amount of intensity and lightness
Narration: First Person
Main Characters: Helena Waite, 17-year old female
Themes: Transitions, Friendship, Summer Camp, First Romance
Plot: 9/10
Narration: 9.5/10. I was a big fan of the narration.
Characterization: 9.6/10
Overall: 9.5/10
Did I get bored anywhere? Nope.
Did any part confuse me? Not at all.
Line/ Page Skippability: 0.5/5
Writing Style: Average Sentences, Expressive, Emotional
Uniqueness: 8/10
Predictability: 2.5/10
Imagery: 9.5/10
Song(s) to go with book: All Summer Long by Kid Rock, Lonely Road by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day, Perfect Day by Avril Lavigne, Dani California by Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Favourite Quotes: "I found myself suddenly jealous of the time when things were simple, when days centered on creek walks and tetherball, and your biggest worry was whether byou'd have riding or sailing. There were no boys, there were no secrets or rumors, and there were no regrets. Not even fear of regret. There was just a best friend and endless hours to fill with Pixy Stix and laughing so hard you couldn't breathe."
"The result of my pushing ahead? Wading behind twelve eight and nine-year-old girls who still got immeasurable pleasure out of splashing in a muddy creek, while all I could think about was whether the cow pee would turn my tennis shoes yellow."
"It's in the remembering that I've begun to understand. That summer the ground beneath me shifted--slowly and silently, like the continental drifts that created the hills and valleys that surround Southpoint. The movement was almost imperceptiblebut for the changing of the landscape."
Cover: 8.5/10
Ending: Hopeful, Realistic, Heartwrenching Closure.
Reading Priority: Definitely Read
Reading duration: Fast readers-Approx. 4 hours, Slow readers- Approx 7 days.
Synopsis:
For the past nine years, seventeen year-old Helena Waite has come to summer camp at Southpoint. Each July, the camp and its familiar routines, landmarks, and people have welcomed her back as a Southpoint sister. This year, however, she is returning not as a camper, but as a counselor. The only downside? Her best friend, Katie Bell, is still a camper.

All too quickly, Helena discovers that the innocent world of campfires, sing-alongs, and field days have been pushed aside for late night pranks on the boys' camp and stolen kisses in the hay loft. As she struggles to define herself, Helena begins to lose sight of what made camp special and the friendships that have sustained her for so many years. When Ransome, her longtime crush, becomes a romantic reality, things get even more confusing. It will take a life-threatening accident to show her what she's lost... and found.

Told with honesty and heart, Kathryn Williams' second novel tackles the timeless theme of growing up against the backdrop of summer camp--a place where innocence is safely guarded and sometimes lost .


WordVore Prod's Review:

The Lost Summer was a wonderful read. It was written in a simple style—nothing too serious or complex, but nothing too light; rather, it focuses on the intensity of each simple moment in our lives. A very true to life novel, The Lost Summer emphasizes on the changes in a person and the impact it has on her relationships and the world around her. Coping with changes can be tough for anyone—but the author draws a poignant picture of how sometimes you just have to move on, keeping all the memories but not hanging on to them. I could connect very well on a personal level with the story—it has something for everything. Helena’s nostalgia for the simplicities of childhood lost is something each and everyone out there can relate to. Also, her shattering of the image she had created of the people she idolized is a very realistic example of how nothing in this world is as perfect as it may seem. Katie is an astoundingly real character with just enough dynamics to her personality—not too many, not too few. The strain and gradual drift in Helena and Katie’s friendship is something you can see happening to you or around you. There were many first times for Helena in the timeframe of the novel—and the awkwardness but subtle bravery with which she deals with them is not over-the-top like comic book heroism but what a real girl of the world can admire and respect. To suit the story perfectly, the plot development was mid-paced.
The sudden course that the ending takes threw me off a little, but it does not stray from the overall realistic feel of the novel. There were parts near the end where my eyes watered up slightly (I am not kidding, and no, I rarely tear up at works of fiction). Williams’ writing style is very emotional and expressive, and it targets right for the heart. An intricately woven tale of summer and leaving behind simplicity of childhood to move on to the complexities of a grown-up world, The Lost Summer beautifully tells the story of the transitions of one girl occurring over the period of one summer camp, and the lessons that come with them.

Labels: Friendship, Kathryn Williams, Summer Camp, The Lost Summer, Transitions, WorDissection