We'll+Always+Have+Summer

//We'll Always Have Summer// by Jenny Han

This one can just about stand on its own, but it's related to two other books and there were a couple of times I was a little bit lost because I hadn't read the other two. Nothing major, just nicknames and minor things like that. The story itself, even when dealing with storylines that were probably in the earlier books, explained them well, but I still have this feeling that I missed a few things. I can see why teen girls would love it, and it wasn't terrible, but I think there's better written books with more interesting main characters on the list. Belly, the main character, kind of annoyed me. Her boyfriend cheats on her and then when she finds out, he proposes to her to make up for it. She says yes, even though she still has feelings for his brother (I think she dated him in the earlier books). She has also just finished her freshman year in college and her boyfriend, Jeremiah, has just finished his sophmore year. I realize that a lot of teenagers are immature, but I had a really hard time feeling sympathetic for them in this book--there were many immature fights, and they don't seem to have money problems at all. At one point Belly gets mad at Jeremiah for ordering the most expensive thing on the menu when her father is paying for dinner, but later she says that she bought a dress with her father's credit card. They struggle with how to pay for the wedding, but then Jeremiah's father swoops in and pays for everything (even though he initially didn't approve of the wedding and nothing really happened that would have changed his mind). I didn't really feel that Belly learned a whole lot or grew from her experiences, because things just seemed to happen to her and she accepted them. She is honest and overall a good person, but in the context of the story she bugged me. I would hesitate to add this to the final list because of the stand-alone issue and I didn't really like the story. Caitlin Andrews, Bedford Public Library

This book should be read after 2 others in the series. I didn't do that. The main character really annoyed me with the choices she made. If I had read the other 2 books this might have been better. This is usually the girl drama type of book that I like. I don't recommend this for the list as I really think it's not good as a stand alone. Kathy Watson Kimball Library, Atkinson