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The Best Summer of Our Lives by Rachel Hauck

 

Twenty years ago, the summer of '77 was supposed to be the best summer of Summer Wilde's life. She and her best friends, Spring, Autumn, and Snow--the Four Seasons--had big plans.


But those plans never had a chance. After a teenage prank gone awry, the Seasons found themselves on a bus to Tumbleweed, "Nowhere," Oklahoma, to spend eight weeks as camp counselors. All four of them arrived with hidden secrets and buried fears, and the events that unfolded in those two months forever altered their friendships, their lives, and their futures.

Now, thirtysomething, Summer is at a crossroads. When her latest girl band leaves her in a motel outside Tulsa, she is forced to face the shadows of her past. Returning to the place where everything changed, she soon learns Tumbleweed is more than a town she never wanted to see again. It's a place for healing, for reconciling the past with the present, and for finally listening to love's voice.

This was an enjoyable book to read. I look forward to recommending it to my students this fall. I enjoyed the different characters and the different time lines. That helped the story stay fresh.  Some of the teenage angst did get a little old. But I liked how all of the problems were taken care of. The ending did feel a bit rushed, but it was very satisfying. 
Copy of books provided by Bethany House and Graf Martin.

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