Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Summer Sisters

I re-read Judy Blume's Are You There God? It's me, Margaret earlier this year and still really liked it so I couldn't resist buying Summer Sisters when I saw it in a used book store. I actually wasn't aware that Judy Blume also wrote books for adults and I was curious to read one.

It was good. It tells the story of two friends who met as kids and stayed friends into adulthood. It's basically about growing up, but that includes values, attitudes, goals, dreams and so much more. I liked that the main characters were believable whatever their age was, meaning that the author has a grasp on the gowing-up issues she writes about.

The style was simple and engaging. I liked that throughout the story there were parentheses where we could see what some of the more minor characters were thinking, what their take on the situation was. I liked it because it made all the characters and their interactions more real.

It's a light read, nothing mind-blowing. Although I was expecting it to be more uplifting than it actually was, so don't expect something too happy! I found parts of the book slightly formulaic and reminiscent of women's writing of the 80s, but I still enjoyed it.

C+ and a contribution to the Title Master Reading Challenge.

3 comments:

Iliana said...

I think I read all of her children's books growing up. She was my favorite author :)
I was wondering about this one... glad to hear it was a good read.

tinylittlelibrarian said...

I've had this one on my TBR list on and off over the years. I'll probably get to it one day. I love Judy Blume and love that her books are still popular with kids today.

joanna said...

Iliana - she was my favorite too! :-)

tinylittlelibrarian - it's great when something you enjoy stands the test of time, isn't it?