Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Mar 2016
272 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Infused with emotion and rich with understanding, Summerlost is the touching new novel from Ally Condie, the international bestselling author of the Matched series that highlights the strength of family and personal resilience in the face of tragedy.
It's the first real summer since the devastating accident that killed Cedar's father and younger brother, Ben. But now Cedar and what's left of her family are returning to the town of Iron Creek for the summer. They're just settling into their new house when a boy named Leo, dressed in costume, rides by on his bike. Intrigued, Cedar follows him to the renowned Summerlost theatre festival. Soon, she not only has a new friend in Leo and a job working concessions at the festival, she finds herself surrounded by mystery. The mystery of the tragic, too-short life of the Hollywood actress who haunts the halls of Summerlost. And the mystery of the strange gifts that keep appearing for Cedar.
"Starred Review. The thread of Lisette's mystery is intriguing in itself, but Leo and Cedar's unlikely friendship steals the show. Their adventures, set against the quirky backdrop of a community of personality-rich theater creators, make for a summer with plenty of good to remember along with the bad. Ages 10–up." - Publishers Weekly
"Have this on hand for readers who enjoy a sweet, heartfelt story. A first purchase for middle grade collections, particularly where realistic fiction and coming-of-age stories are in demand." - School Library Journal
"Honest, lovely, and sad. Ages 10-13." - Kirkus
"A nuanced portrait of grief deeply grounded in the middle-school mind-set." - Booklist
This information about Summerlost was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Ally Condie is the author of the Matched Trilogy, a #1 New York Times and international bestseller. Matched was chosen as one of YALSA's 2011 Teens' Top Ten and named as one of Publishers Weekly's Best Children's Books of 2010. The sequels, Crossed and Reached, were also critically acclaimed and received starred reviews, and all three books are available in 30+ languages.
Ally lives with her husband and four children outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. She loves reading, writing, running, and listening to her husband play guitar.
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