Book: The Lost Summer by Kathryn Williams
Rating: 4 Stars
Release date: July 14, 2009 from Hyperion
Summary: For the past nine years, Helena Waite has been returning to summer camp at Southpoint. Every year the camp and its familiar routines, landmarks, and people have welcomed her back like a long-lost family member. But this year she is returning not as a camper, but as a counselor, while her best friend, Katie Bell remains behind. All too quickly, Helena discovers that the innocent world of campfires, singalongs, and field days have been pushed aside for late night pranks on the boys’ camp, skinny dipping in the lake, and stolen kisses in the hayloft. As she struggles to define herself in this new world, Helena begins to lose sight of what made camp special and the friendships that have sustained her for so many years. And when Ransome, her longtime crush, becomes a romantic reality, life gets even more confusing.
From her very first day as a counselor, Helena knows this will be her summer. Winn, one of the coolest counselors, takes Helena under her wing and Helena’s status goes from new, unknown counselor, to popular counselor. And not only does being a counselor give her more privileges at Southpoint, it also gives her a chance with the guy of her dreams.
Will Helena realize that growth doesn’t necessarily mean leaving everything behind? Will she finally get the guy she has been crushing on for years? And most importantly, how will the summer end?
Something I didn’t mention in my summary is that there is a bit of suspense to the story. At the very beginning of the book you get a short prologue about something bad that happened that summer but the author gives you know clue what it was. That was really what drew me into the story.
I will admit that The Lost Summer was hard for me to get into. It was a bit boring at the beginning but I kept reading because I really wanted to know what happened. I have to say that this is what made the book. The story was good but the suspense of not knowing was killing me. I just had to know.
The characters weren’t bad either. Winn was a bit bitchy but that was just her character. It’s how she was supposed to be and it all gets explained eventually. Katie Bell was kind of childish but once again it was just how she was supposed to be. She was basically everything that Helena was leaving behind and the author did a great job of showing that. Helena was actually rather annoying. She seemed really selfish and really mean to Katie Bell, at times. I really hated that about her but otherwise she wasn’t too bad.
Overall, The Lost Summer was a good book but not what I would consider a favorite. In the end, it had a little bit of everything; romance, suspense, coming-of-age, and friendship. While it’s not my favorite it just might be yours! =]
