Every year, Isabel Conklin, also known as Belly, a high school teenager, goes to a summer beach house, in Cousins Beach, with family friends, Susannah, Jeremiah, and Conrad Fisher. Belly’s mother, Laurel has been best friends with Susannah Fisher since their childhood. Belly has had a crush on Conrad since she was 10 years old. One summer, Belly suddenly started to be noticed by Conrad, Jeremiah, and other people. Conrad, Jeremiah, and Steve, Belly’s brother, then started to let Belly join them in going to parties and teaching her how to drive a car. Belly then met Cam, her future boyfriend, at one of the parties and they started to hang out all summer. Towards the end of the summer, Belly and Cam got into an argument about Belly still loving Conrad. Belly started ignoring Cam’s phone calls, eventually ending their relationship. Throughout the summer, Conrad locked himself in his room all day. Belly then later found out Conrad’s mother, Susannah, had relapsed from her breast cancer. After Belly and Cam’s relationship ended, Jeremiah confesses his feelings to Belly, forcing her to realize that she still has a crush on Conrad. On the day that both families were about to leave, Belly decided she was going to tell Conrad how she felt about him. Conrad rejected her, not wanting to start a romantic relationship because of the devastation of his mother’s cancer. Months later, Conrad visits Belly back in Boston.
I think The Summer I Turned Pretty was significantly amazing. The book truly symbolizes real-life struggles like death, divorce, and heartbreak.
One idea I have is, I like that the families endorse and encourage sarcasm. It reminds me of my own family. Another idea I have is that Belly counts the years by summers, one thing she says is, “I always wondered what the boys looked like in December. I tried to picture them in cranberry-colored scarves and turtleneck sweaters, rosy-cheeked and standing beside a Christmas tree, but the image always seemed false. I did not know the winter Jeremiah or the winter Conrad, and I was jealous of everyone who did,”.