Summer Sisters

February 15, 1998
Blume goes adult again in this story of golden-girl Caitlin and working-class Vix, who share a summer on Martha's Vineyard.

June 1, 1998
YA-Caitlin lives with her mother in Sante Fe, but spends summers on a New England island with her father, brother, and stepmother. Both parents give her free rein, and her beauty, independence, and talent for getting away with outrageous behavior make her an intriguing star to her middle school classmates. Victoria can't understand why Caitlin would single her out to be her "summer sister" on Martha's Vineyard as she sees herself as quiet and dull. She senses, though, that this vacation is an important turning point and convinces her conservative parents to let her go. The girls become fast friends, sharing six unforgettable summers together. The strength of the novel lies in the portrayal of those six seasons. The author provides an engaging tableau of teenage experiences, worries, and emotions. Together, the girls cope with their changing bodies, difficult family relationships, boyfriends, and concerns about their futures. After high school graduation, Victoria goes on to college and a career while Caitlin travels to Europe and spins out of control. She even marries Victoria's former lover and has his child before escaping to Europe alone again. The end of the novel seems rushed but, overall, both the story and the girls will quickly capture readers' interest. The author's perceptive treatment of special childhood moments, the trials and joys of adolescence, and the magical possibilities of summer make this an entertaining read.-Mary Alice Giarda, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

March 15, 1998
Although Blume has published two adult novels, "Wifey" (1978) and "Smart Women" (1985), she remains best known as the groundbreaking author of middle-grade and young-adult books, including "Are You There God? It's Me Margaret" (1972). Her latest effort, although published as an adult book, could just as easily have been on a YA list. It is, after all, the story of a teenage friendship between two girls, one rich, one poor, and it traces what happens to them as they grow up and eventually grow apart. The majority of the book covers the summers the girls spend together from ages 13 to 18 on Martha's Vineyard. Blume remains a pithy writer. Her dialogue is realistic, and her plot--coming-of-age slathered with jealousy--moves right along through family troubles, boyfriends, college, and eventually, marriage. But Blume has also covered much of this material--menstruation, masturbation, first sexual affairs--in her books for young teens. Clearly, this book (which begins in the 1970s, Blume's heyday) was designed to welcome her now grown-up readers into the world of adult fiction. The problem is, most of them probably arrived there a long time ago. What we have here is a marketing ploy: the YA novel masquerading as an adult book in order to widen its audience and capitalize on the author's name. Ironically, though, the audience who will most appreciate the trials and tribulations of friends Victoria and Caitlin as they try to grow up are the very people Blume seems trying so hard to get away from--teenage girls. ((Reviewed March 15, 1998))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1998, American Library Association.)