Summer Can't Choose

Summer #1

by Katherine Applegate

Florida is everything Summer Smith had dreamed of. The sun is scorching, the water is brilliant blue, and the guys are tanned and gorgeous. Will this be her summer of love?

Summer can't choose between three boys. Diver, her mysterious night-time visitor. Adam, her cousin's old love. And Seth, who would be perfect if he wasn't already with Lianne. Can Summer figure out who she wants - before she loses them all?

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Fiction, Teen, Summer, Contemporary, Young Adult Romance

234 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1995

About the author

#1 New York Times bestselling author Katherine Applegate has written many books for young readers, including THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN, winner of the 2013 Newbery Medal.

Katherine’s picture books include THE BUFFALO STORM, illustrated by Jan Ormerod (Clarion Books); THE REMARKABLE TRUE STORY OF IVAN, THE SHOPPING MALL GORILLA, illustrated by G. Brian Karas (Clarion Books); SOMETIMES YOU FLY, illustrated by Jennifer Black Reinhardt (Clarion Books); and ODDER: AN OTTER’S STORY, illustrated by Charles Santoso (Feiwel & Friends).

She’s written or co-written three early chapter series for young readers: ROSCOE RILEY RULES, a seven-book series illustrated by Brian Biggs (HarperCollins); DOGGO AND PUPPER, a three-book series illustrated by Charlie Alder (Feiwel & Friends). With Gennifer Choldenko, she co-authored DOGTOWN and MOUSE AND HIS DOG, illustrated by Wallace West (Feiwel & Friends).

Books for middle-grade readers include HOME OF THE BRAVE (Feiwel & Friends); THE ONE AND ONLY series, illustrated by Patricia Castelao, including THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN, THE ONE AND ONLY BOB, THE ONE AND ONLY RUBY, and THE ONE AND ONLY FAMILY (HarperCollins); the ENDLING trilogy (HarperCollins); CRENSHAW (Feiwel & Friends); WISHTREE (Feiwel & Friends); WILLODEEN (Feiwel & Friends); ODDER (Feiwel & Friends); and the forthcoming POCKET BEAR (Feiwel & Friends).

With her husband, Michael Grant, Katherine co-wrote ANIMORPHS, a long-running series that has sold over 35 million books worldwide. They also wrote two other series, REMNANTS and EVERWORLD, and a young adult novel, EVE AND ADAM (Feiwel & Friends.)

Katherine’s work has been translated into dozens of languages, and her books have won accolades including the Christopher Medal, the Golden Kite Award, the Bank Street Josette Frank Award, the California Book Award Gold Medal, the Crystal Kite Award, the Green Earth Book Honor Award, the Charlotte Zolotow Honor Award, and the E.B. White Read Aloud Award. Many of her works have appeared on state master lists, Best of the Year lists, and Publishers Weekly, USA Today, and New York Times bestseller lists.

Katherine lives in Nevada with her husband and assorted pets. She is represented by Elena Giovinazzo at Heirloom Literary and Mary Pender at WME.

Reviews

[N · Rating 4 out of 5]

How's my mental health? Well, I'm re-reading my favourite books from when I was 13, sooo... NOT GREAT, BOB.

Summer Can't Choose, also published as June Dreams and bundled as Beach Blondes (wowww, what a selection of terrible titles! the 90s!) is perfect YA escapism. It follows adorably-naive Minnesotan teenager Summer as she moves to the Florida Keys for a summer and encounters a veritible cornucopia of eligible bachelors (some of whom may not actually be bachelors and some of whom she may be related to -- accidental incest is the best!!!).

The thing about Summer is that is skates right up to the line of unbearable cheesiness and then does a dazzling triple axel instead. The characters are believable, the action is compelling, and the rendering of the beach town setting is both gorgeous and grotty.

Katherine Applegate, in both this novel and others, has a uncanny ability to weave Difficult Subjects into her books (in this case, rape and suicide) without it feeling like A Lesson.

APPLEGATE IS THE QUEEN OF YA, okay. You will never take her crown.

And, yes, I am going to re-read the whole of this series.

[Pastel Paperback · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, the Summer series! Katherine Applegate sure has come a long way, hasn't she?

In the first entry, our titular character Summer is invited to spend the summer (the season) with her Aunt Mallory and cousin Diana. They're rich and living in the Florida Keys, so her Minnesota ass jumps at the chance.

On the flight there, she sits next to a fortune-teller who warns her that she'll meet 3 different boys who will affect her life in major ways.

We meet them all (assumedly) in this first book:
• "good boy" Seth (has an on-again-off-again girlfriend and smooches Summer within minutes of meeting her)
• rich boy Adam (ex-boyfriend of her cousin Diana, also kisses her almost immediately and woos her with a jetski rescue and a mansion with a home theater)
• hippie nomad Diver (basically camping out in the water shack on stilts her cousin forces her to live in, it's all a little odd)

The book starts off light and fluffy with Summer getting to know her standoffish cousin, meeting new friends, getting a job waitressing, and fending off jealous locals. But by the last few chapters, we see that things aren't always so light and fun in The Keys, and the book ends with a dramatic cliffhanger.

I can practically smell the suntan lotion wafting off these books, and I'm excited to dive back in and relive the days of stretching out on a beach towel, ripping through these between swim sessions.

[Brittney · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books are the reason I read today! I first picked it up as something to read for our silent reading in high school and ended up reading almost all of them by the end of that month. I LOVE LOVE LOVE these books! Hmm... I actually think I'll re-read them now!

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used to read these books when I was a teenager. This one instantly got me hooked and I couldn't wait to read the rest. Pretty sure they're still sitting in my parent's basement. I think they may need to make a reappearance this summer... time to reread the series perhaps. :)

[Akilah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revisiting books I loved as a teen (hot tip: this has been reissued as Beach Blondes: June Dreams / July's Promise / August Magic).

Again, Katherine Applegate is the queen of the teen soap opera in book form. Great characters as always. I mean, Diana, Marquez, and Diver are perennial faves. Plus, Seth looks like Stone from General Hospital! Summer mentions the Quartermaines! So basically, this took me back to when I was also obsessed with GH. (What are the updated references? Never mind. I don't want to know.) Fun times all around.

[Johanna]

OMG! I read this about 12 or so years ago.... Good Memories. I thought this series was the best ever at 15 or 16 years old! Maybe I'll re-read it for old times sake!

[Matthew MacIntyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

*SPOILERS*
We follow Summer who lives in Minnesota but gets invited to spend the summer in Florida with her aunt Mallory and cousin Diana. On her plane ride to Florida she is seated next to a woman that pulls out tarot cards and tells summer that she will meet three guys, one will seek to be a mystery, one will seem to represent danger, and one will seem to be the right one. Summer is going to be busy this summer lol. She meets Seth at the airport and they share a kiss. Then she finds out her aunt Mallory has to go on a book tour so it’s just her and Diana for a while. So Diana tricks Summer and has her stay in a stilt house on the edge of the property. There she meets Diver who also uses the house when the weather is bad. Summer on her way to town to look for a job meets Marquez who instantly befriends her and gets her a job at the restaurant she works. Life is so great for Summer!! Marquez invites Summer to a party and on the way there their jet skis both run out of gas and they are saved by the host of the party Adam. Adam who instantly crushes on Summer is super rich and happens to be Diana’s ex boyfriend. But that doesn’t stop Summer from getting all hot and heavy with him at the party. After most of the book is very lighthearted and fluffy and just want a summer themed ya book should be, towards the end there are darker themes like suicide and rape. I will admit I was not expecting that. So they both concern Diana who in the last year has cut off all of her friends and has been acting very different. She is the one who counts pills in her mother’s medicine cabinets and fantasizes bout someone finding her after she takes them. And towards the end of the book we find out that Adams brother Ross tried to rape Diana the year before that’s why he went to rehab, it insinuates that because of Adams family’s money nothing was ever done really to him. But he’s out of rehab and is back to his drinking and partying ways. The last chapters of the book Summer is spending the night at Adams place where they run into his drink brother Ross. Adam and Diana stay up late watching tv and kissing until Diana says it’s time for bed. He shows her to her room and leaves. She falls asleep happily dreaming about how great the summer has been, but is awoken to the door opening and a silhouette of a man and in the distance a faint insistent pounding noise. Cliffhanger nice!!

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh yes. This happened. I found a free copy in a box in Cumberland, Maryland while stuck in West Virginia waiting for our van to be fixed. The crazy thing is that the more I read, the more I remembered having read it before when I was a young impressional pre-teen!

The story exactly fits the cover, which actually has some merit as an homage to early 90s pop culture. Sweet midwestern innocent spends a summer in Keys slowly losing her innocence to boys, booze, and parties, but somehow never losing her purity. As far as trashy 90s YA books go, this one is of a higher caliber. It deals with the treatment of rape and unwanted sexual advances, as well as drug use. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of hair flipping and "like totally crushable" moments, but the dialogue is fairly witty and Applegate seems to go for some substance.

Anyway, I NEVER would have picked it up, had the bookstore been closed while I was stranded. But I don't hate that I did. And I really don't hate the cover. I wish goodreads showed the inside flaps too, because the boys in their neon suits batting a beach ball is really just pure 90s flashback goodness.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed Katherine Applegate's more recent work (The One and Only Ivan, Wishing Tree, Crenshaw, etc.), so when I heard she'd written a young adult romance series back in 90's, I thought I should try it out. The story was just so-so for me. The writing was sub-par and the romance wasn't great either, there is no real substance, so I figured I'd finish this book and be done with the series. But then Applegate leaves you on a cliffhanger...so I might read the next one too, I'm not sure.

[Dee Torres · Rating 4 out of 5]

I awarded this book an extra star for its nostalgic charm and the fond memories it holds for me. My best friend, two years older than me, loved to read and always shared her books with me. The "Summer" series was among our favorites. This novel captures the essence of 90s YA fiction, evoking memories of eagerly anticipating what would happen next. It rekindles my love of reading and reminds me of those cherished moments.

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah this book brought back sooo much nostalgia. This series was one of the first summer romance series I read as a young teenager, I have no idea where I found it or how I found it but I remembered absolutely loving it and rereading it now it’s just all coming back to me🥹

[Sati Marie Frost · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Katherine Applegate when I was a teen and pre-teen, and Making Waves (UK) was my favourite out of the Applegate series that I read. I haven't read any of the books for several years, but I'm happy to say that they hold up quite well, even years later.

Summer Can't Choose is the first in an eight-book (I think) series set in the Florida Keys. Summer Smith is a sweet, wholesome Minnesotan who, on one of the worst days of winter, receives an invitation to spend the summer in Crab Claw Key, Florida, with an aunt and cousin that she barely knows. She accepts readily - it's freezing cold in Minnesota, there are no interesting boys around, and the dream of hot beaches and hotter hunks is too much to resist.

Things in Florida, however, are both different and more than she expected. Her aunt - a famous romance writer - disappears on a book tour the same day Summer arrives, and her cousin Diana is moody and hard to get to know. But the sun is bright, the locals - especially new friend Marquez - are welcoming, and Summer soon finds she has not one but three potential guys hanging around: Seth, the cute carpenter who comes with an unfortunately clingy ex in tow; Diver, the mysterious wanderer who sleeps on the deck outside her house; and Adam, charming son of a billionaire senator.

With all these disparate characters coming together, there's sure to be fireworks.

I was surprised and pleased at how much I enjoyed Summer Can't Choose, even as an adult. Summer is a wonderful protagonist: wholesome, sweet, goofy, unsure of herself, and lacking the self-righteousness that (I felt) characterises some of Katherine Applegate's other heroines (I remember that I found both Zoey from Making Out / Girlfriends-Boyfriends and particularly Kate from Ocean City / Making Waves US to be annoyingly smug and judgemental at times). I think it's Summer's goofiness that saves her from being annoying - where the other girls were cool and self-confident (or at least pretended to be), Summer doesn't seem to hide behind any walls, instead facing the world with an open heart and a vulnerability that makes her very appealing.

Diana, Summer's cousin, appears to be manipulative and conniving, and spends the first half of the book trying to convince Summer to go home to Minnesota. She dumps Summer in a rickety old bungalow that used to be used by smugglers, in the hopes that without luxurious accommodations, Summer will turn tail and run. Summer's made of tougher stuff than that, though, so Diana reluctantly accepts that her cousin is here for the whole summer. While Diana is moody and temperamental, she's never overtly mean, so it's hard to dislike her. Later in the book, we find out some of the reasons behind her guarded personality, and she becomes a much more sympathetic character. Like Summer, she has a vulnerability to her that I found refreshing back in the mid-Nineties, when all the teenage girls I knew were tough and glossy and impossible to see inside, and that I still find a very likeable trait now.

Marquez - Maria Esmeralda Marquez, if you want to get technical - makes up the third part of the female trio, and a very interesting part she is. A vibrant, passionate artist at heart, she wants nothing more than to shove all her emotion and passion down deep inside, so she can pursue a career as a lawyer and make her family (refugees from Cuba) proud. Marquez claims to hate emotional stuff, and loathes getting pulled into people's problems - which means, of course, that she'll naturally get sucked into every big emotional mess that comes along. Poor Marquez. She just can't seem to shove that passion down deep enough, and it spills out everywhere - in her love of dancing, in the glorious murals she paints on the wall of her room, and in her feelings for her ex-boyfriend, J.T.

Rounding out the group we have Adam, son of a New Hampshire senator and ex-boyfriend of Diana, who's now falling for Summer; Seth, boy-next-door who came to Florida from Wisconsin on the same plane as Summer and kissed her in the airport; Lianne, Seth's clingy and manipulative ex-girlfriend who can't handle their break-up; J.T., Marquez's ex and current chef at the restaurant where Marquez and Summer work; and Diver, painfully beautiful man of mystery who seems to have no home other than the deck of Summer's bungalow. Each character - even the supporting ones - is written in a way that gives them a distinctive voice of their own, and the book as a whole has a vitality and humour that you don't often find in YA books from this period. These feel like real people to me, and love them or hate them, each character is someone I'd like to know.

I think this is perhaps Katherine Applegate's best work, at least of the ones I've read. While I did enjoy her other series as a kid (and haven't read them in a long time, so it's not really fair of me to judge. Oh well), this is the one that I always come back to when I need something light that'll make me laugh.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beachy readzzzz

[Katie Stavola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this series back in the late 90s and absolutely loved it. One of the first series of books I’d ever read at the time. Seeing this book brings back a lot of nostalgia 🥹

[Katsumi · Rating 3 out of 5]

To read this review and others, go to www.myteenreads.blogspot.com

This book is about Summer, who hails from Minnesota, who comes down to live in Florida with her aunt and cousin for the summer. On the plane a lady tells her about three boys she will meet. One will seem to be dangerous, one will seem to be right, and one will seem to be mysterious. With that in mind, she meets 3 guys: Diver, Adam, and Seth. Summer tries to figure out her relationships with them as well as with her cousin Diana, who seems to have some stuff going on.

I read this a few years back and loved it. Now, I still think it's a good story but its definitely not the best story I've ever read or anything haha. I find it to be unrealistic most of the times but its a cute, cheesy story. It's a little dramatic, but fun and simple. All the characters are very likable.

It's a little addicting and if you're in the mood for a bit outdated, cheesy, summer series, read this! 3 out of 5 stars. Also, please note that I did not give this 3 stars because I disliked the story. I gave it 3 stars because I don't believe it was exceptionally great and thought provoking.

[S.T. Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A piece of my childhood.
I loved these books so much as a kid. I think my first ever official book boyfriend was Diver. I was obsessed with these stories and the idea of moving to the Florida Keys falling for 3 different hotties making a super cool best friend and just living my best life.
Looking at this cover now is just a wistful piece of my past. If there was a time capsule of my life this book would be in it.

[sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was better than I expected. I thought it was just an easy read about summer. The fun times and boys. There is actually some suspense towards the end.So I'm excited to read the next book, July's Promise.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this Series as a teenager! Read it as the Making Waves series. Again like the her other teen books, they had awful names up but great story lines and complex characters - a great way to get teens reading and understand certain things int he world.

[Kylene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this when I was a teenager. One of my all-time favorite series.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books from when I was a teenager. It was the perfect beach read for a teenage girl.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another brilliant Katherine Applegate series!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this series as a pre-teen. Maybe it was aimed at an older audience but I loved it. I don't think there was anything in there that was unsuitable. Great series for young teens nonetheless.

[Maggy Lander · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book a couple of years ago and I just needed to revisit being a young teen again with excited about falling in love. It was nice to visit memory lane.

[Kharissa Villamor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This day should be.

[Stephanie D]

83/100 More then a summer read.Pick it up if you have a chance :)

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

These were the best books! I need to search around the house to see if I can find my old copies. Wonder if they are on Kindle? Doubt it... It was almost 20 years ago.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the (first) three books over and over. I only just now realized there were more. Teen dramas were my fav at the time