Abbott, Hailey, (2004). Summer Boys. New York: Scholastic, Point. ISBN: 0439540208. 214 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: Three cousins, Jamie, Ella, and Beth, spend their summers in Maine at the beach. While they live in different states during the rest of the year, all the families meet up for the summer at Pebble Beach. This is the story of meeting boys like Mr. Right, Mr. Right Now, Mr. Wrong, and Mr. Anybody.

Jamie aspires to be a writer, makes her own clothes and is otherwise very creative. While she starts the summer with a boyfriend, it takes her the entire summer to come to grips with the reality of that relationship. Ella is bombshell gorgeous and loves to have a good time. The only trouble is, she wants to have that good time with her sister Kelsi's summer boy Peter who is more than willing to oblige. Athletic Beth comes to the beach with her best friend George. It's only when another girls points out his hotness factor that Beth gains clarity of her own feelings.

Because Abbot spends a good amount of time creating three separate girls, and reinforces those differences from the various points of views of each girl, a reader can begin to identify with, if not all, at least one of the main characters. In addition as they are cousins, the characters weave in and out of each other's stories, which create nice links throughout. For each of these characters Abbott concocts a growing-up cocktail: some part happily ever after, some drunken hook-up, some self-awareness and confidence building, and some part poor decisions. All in all a packed summer drink.

This book made me nostalgic. I was reminded of the mystery and enticements of my own summers away from home. Each year I went away, I returned to school recharged. This is not an amazing or mind-blowing book, but it was good. The characters were believable, and they all seem to grow up a bit, which is what good summers are for, right?

Booktalk: I think I would do a character sketch of one of the three cousins, perhaps Beth. I would introduce her and sporty and athletic, who brings George along to the beach for company. How each of them is all set for their own separate summer flings until George meets Cara. Then I could explain that this is only one of the three stories in the book.