that summer by Sarah Dessen (4/5)

Remarkable life experiences through complex relationships establish professional social skills altering the way people perceive ideas throughout this novel. That summer is a historical fiction and romance novel published in 1996 and written by Sarah Dessen, a #1 New York Times Bestselling Author. This novel does not require background information from other stories as this is not specifically a series. However, works written by Sarah Dessen continue to affect how humans perceive subjects in a positive way as the more novels you read written by her, the more life lessons and understanding solidifies from her interesting story style. This story is told in the perspective of a fifteen year old girl, Haven, as she deals with her sister’s new relationship, her father’s new marriage, and changes in personality in her best friend Ashley. Haven is not used to the new changes and is inspired to adapt to the new conditions through resiliency which is building suspense to how she will react in those situations. Personally, I thought the story was interesting and unique as the main character copes with relationship changes throughout her social life demonstrating her ability of resilience to develop through character growth. This conveys real life scenarios that possibly have relatable behaviors incorporated into human society. Her way of approaching life leading along with character development are exhibited through chronological chapters implemented in an extraordinary way to carry out the message. Her story representations overall helps with building resilience along with dealing with social insecurities and lack of confidence that hold people back from being the best versions of themselves. Other messages of building resilience along with dealing with social insecurities and lack of confidence include books such as I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. Their representation of real world examples are exemplified through descriptive real life situations that help people understand how people grow as a person. Ultimately, analyzing the behaviors of people in a unique real life situation with messages eager to be discovered, unlocks curiosity that spikes self growth through awareness and cognition making the book a pleasant read.