Review: Summer Sisters

I'd never read anything by Judy Blume before picking up this book. I've heard of her, and that she is a fantastic children's author, so I thought I'd check this book out.

Victoria Leonard, Vix for short, is reserved and comes from a blue-collar family. She has nothing in common with wild Caitlin Somers, whose family is well-to-do although her parents are divorced. So Vix is surprised when she is invited to spend the summer after sixth grade with Caitlin at her dad's house on Martha's Vineyard.

The girls quickly form a bond, and the summer trip becomes a tradition as they grow from adolescents into young women. As they weather the storms of growing up together, will their struggles to figure out their futures pull them together or apart...

I was really disappointed with this book. I really liked the idea of the plot, but I feel it devolved from a book about friendship to being more about sex. There were scenes I skipped because it was too explicit for me. The amount of profanity is also atrocious.

The story itself read like it was supposed to be for girls 11-16, but the amount of lewd behavior and profanity suggested it was for adults. I'm not sure who this book was written for.

I had a hard time liking the characters. Caitlin comes off as selfish and manipulative, while Vix is a pushover. My favorite character was actually Caitlin's step-mom Abby: I felt like she was trying to do the right thing, even if sometimes she went about it the wrong way. Caitlin's brother Sharky also intrigued me. I feel like he was a better character than either of the girls, but we don't get to see him much in the book.

This novel was written back in 1998, so I'm hoping Ms. Blume has come a long way from this sort of thing. I'll debate about whether trying one of her other books. If you're considering reading some of her work, I recommend skipping this one.