The Goodbye Summer
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Sarah Dessen meets Morgan Matson in the perfect summer debut about learning to say goodbye—or finding a reason to stay. Caroline is counting the days until September, when she'll turn seventeen and she and her older boyfriend, Jake, will run away together. She doesn't feel connected to anyone at home now that she has him, and she can't wait to see the world with the most important person in her life. So with just a few more months until freedom, she spends her summer working at the local aquarium gift shop and dreaming of the fall. Then she meets Georgia, a counselor at the aquarium's camp, and Caroline's world changes. Through pizza lunches, trips to amusement parks, and midnight talks, Georgia begins to show Caroline there's more to life than being with Jake. The stronger Georgia and Caroline's bond grows, the more uneasy Caroline becomes about her plans to leave. When summer comes to a close, she'll have to say goodbye to someone...but who is she willing to lose?
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(Disclosure: the author is a friend.) This book is so beautifully written and heartfelt and I just wanted to give Caroline and Georgia and even Matt and Toby gigantic hugs (and none for Jake, bye). I'm 36, so not at all in the target age range, but this book brought me back to that late-high-school feeling of wanting more, but not being sure what that “more” is or how to get it. I didn't have the same high school experiences as Caroline, so I didn't identify with her in that exact way, but the emotions were so real and so perfect. This isn't a heavy book at all or one with a Message, but it touches on some very real feelings and situations and does it all beautifully.
