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Seventeenth Summer
First published in the 1940s, Seventeenth Summer is considered the first young adult novel. Now with refreshed text and a brand-new look, this timeless, sweeping romance is perfect for fans of Morgan Matson and Jenny Han.
Angeline “Angie” Morrow always thought high school romances were just silly infatuations that come and go. She certainly never thought she would fall in love. But when she’s asked out on her first date by the school basketball star, Jack Duluth, their connection is beyond any childish crush.
Suddenly, Angie and Jack are filling their summer with stolen moments and romantic nights. But fall is coming—Angie is going off to college in Chicago, while Jack is planning to move to Oklahoma to help with the family bakery—and they must figure out if their love is forever, or just a summer they’ll never forget.
Angeline “Angie” Morrow always thought high school romances were just silly infatuations that come and go. She certainly never thought she would fall in love. But when she’s asked out on her first date by the school basketball star, Jack Duluth, their connection is beyond any childish crush.
Suddenly, Angie and Jack are filling their summer with stolen moments and romantic nights. But fall is coming—Angie is going off to college in Chicago, while Jack is planning to move to Oklahoma to help with the family bakery—and they must figure out if their love is forever, or just a summer they’ll never forget.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1942
220 people are currently reading
3558 people want to read
About the author
Maureen Daly
33 books55 followersMaureen Daly, a writer whose first novel, “Seventeenth Summer,” anticipated the young-adult genre by decades when it appeared in 1942 and has endured as a classic coming-of-age story, died on Monday, Sep 25, 2006 in Palm Desert, Calif. She was 85.
The cause was non-Hodgkins lymphoma, her sister, Sheila Daly White, said.
Written when Ms. Daly was a teenager and published while she was still in college, “Seventeenth Summer” told the story of Angie and Jack, two teenagers who fall in love during one enchanted summer in a Wisconsin lakeside town. Written in a straightforward, unpretentious style, the book is full of innocent pastimes — boating on the lake, Cokes at the corner drugstore — mingled with more grown-up pleasures like beer and cigarettes.
Reviewing the novel in The New York Times Book Review, Edith H. Walton wrote:
“By a kind of miracle, and perhaps because she is so close to an experience not easy to recapture, Miss Daly has made an utterly enchanting book out of this very fragile little story — one which rings true and sweet and fresh and sound.”
Published originally by Dodd, Mead & Company and most recently in 2002 by Simon & Schuster, “Seventeenth Summer” has sold more than a million copies worldwide, according to the reference book Authors and Artists for Young Adults.
Though fiction about adolescents was nothing new in the 1940’s — among its eminent practitioners had been Mark Twain, Booth Tarkington and Louisa May Alcott — the concept of novels specifically earmarked for adolescents would not exist until the late 1960’s, ushered in by writers like Paul Zindel and S. E. Hinton.
Yet a quarter-century earlier, “Seventeenth Summer” anticipated many of these authors’ concerns, as Teri Lesesne, a professor of library science at Sam Houston State University and a specialist in young-adult literature, explained in a telephone interview yesterday.
“For ’42, this is a pretty avant-garde young woman: she smokes, she drinks, she dates,” Ms. Lesesne said. “She thinks about more than a chaste kiss at the end of a date.”
Maureen Patricia Daly was born on March 15, 1921, in Castlecaulfield, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. She came to the United States with her family as a young child.
When Ms. Daly was 15, her short story “Fifteen” was published in Scholastic magazine. The next year she wrote another story, fittingly titled “Sixteen,” that was included in the O. Henry collection of 1938, which gathered together the best short stories of the previous year. Then, working in the basement of her parents’ home in Fond du Lac, Wis., she began “Seventeenth Summer.”
After earning undergraduate degrees in English and Latin from Rosary College in River Forest., Ill., Ms. Daly worked as a reporter and book critic for The Chicago Tribune. She was later on the staff of Ladies’ Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post.
Among her many other books are the young-adult novels “Acts of Love” (1986) and “First a Dream” (1990), both published by Scholastic, and “Mention My Name in Mombasa: The Unscheduled Adventures of an American Family Abroad” (Dodd, Mead, 1958), a travel memoir written with her husband, William P. McGivern, a well-known crime novelist.
Ms. Daly’s husband died in 1982; her daughter, Megan McGivern Shaw, died in 1983 at the age of 35. Besides her sister, Ms. White, of Manhattan, she is survived by a son, Patrick McGivern, of Palm Desert, and two grandchildren.
In an interview quoted in the reference book Major Authors and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults, Ms. Daly recalled the special urgency — akin to grasping quicksilver — that gave rise to “Seventeenth Summer.”
“I was so wildly and vividly happy about love and life at a particular time in my existence,” she said. “I wanted to get all that fleeting excitement down on paper before it passed, or I forg
The cause was non-Hodgkins lymphoma, her sister, Sheila Daly White, said.
Written when Ms. Daly was a teenager and published while she was still in college, “Seventeenth Summer” told the story of Angie and Jack, two teenagers who fall in love during one enchanted summer in a Wisconsin lakeside town. Written in a straightforward, unpretentious style, the book is full of innocent pastimes — boating on the lake, Cokes at the corner drugstore — mingled with more grown-up pleasures like beer and cigarettes.
Reviewing the novel in The New York Times Book Review, Edith H. Walton wrote:
“By a kind of miracle, and perhaps because she is so close to an experience not easy to recapture, Miss Daly has made an utterly enchanting book out of this very fragile little story — one which rings true and sweet and fresh and sound.”
Published originally by Dodd, Mead & Company and most recently in 2002 by Simon & Schuster, “Seventeenth Summer” has sold more than a million copies worldwide, according to the reference book Authors and Artists for Young Adults.
Though fiction about adolescents was nothing new in the 1940’s — among its eminent practitioners had been Mark Twain, Booth Tarkington and Louisa May Alcott — the concept of novels specifically earmarked for adolescents would not exist until the late 1960’s, ushered in by writers like Paul Zindel and S. E. Hinton.
Yet a quarter-century earlier, “Seventeenth Summer” anticipated many of these authors’ concerns, as Teri Lesesne, a professor of library science at Sam Houston State University and a specialist in young-adult literature, explained in a telephone interview yesterday.
“For ’42, this is a pretty avant-garde young woman: she smokes, she drinks, she dates,” Ms. Lesesne said. “She thinks about more than a chaste kiss at the end of a date.”
Maureen Patricia Daly was born on March 15, 1921, in Castlecaulfield, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. She came to the United States with her family as a young child.
When Ms. Daly was 15, her short story “Fifteen” was published in Scholastic magazine. The next year she wrote another story, fittingly titled “Sixteen,” that was included in the O. Henry collection of 1938, which gathered together the best short stories of the previous year. Then, working in the basement of her parents’ home in Fond du Lac, Wis., she began “Seventeenth Summer.”
After earning undergraduate degrees in English and Latin from Rosary College in River Forest., Ill., Ms. Daly worked as a reporter and book critic for The Chicago Tribune. She was later on the staff of Ladies’ Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post.
Among her many other books are the young-adult novels “Acts of Love” (1986) and “First a Dream” (1990), both published by Scholastic, and “Mention My Name in Mombasa: The Unscheduled Adventures of an American Family Abroad” (Dodd, Mead, 1958), a travel memoir written with her husband, William P. McGivern, a well-known crime novelist.
Ms. Daly’s husband died in 1982; her daughter, Megan McGivern Shaw, died in 1983 at the age of 35. Besides her sister, Ms. White, of Manhattan, she is survived by a son, Patrick McGivern, of Palm Desert, and two grandchildren.
In an interview quoted in the reference book Major Authors and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults, Ms. Daly recalled the special urgency — akin to grasping quicksilver — that gave rise to “Seventeenth Summer.”
“I was so wildly and vividly happy about love and life at a particular time in my existence,” she said. “I wanted to get all that fleeting excitement down on paper before it passed, or I forg
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 811 reviews
October 16, 2017
I had to read this for my young adult literature class as this was one of the first books classified as "young adult"! I went into this optimistically since it's described as a love story, but I was disappointed. Although it was interesting to read a book written and set in the early 1940s, the main character is quite dull and the writing style was not for me.
June 28, 2013
The story's synopsis on the back cover implies that it will primarily be about two teens who fall in love and spend an ample amount of time together. But it isn't at all. In fact I knew more about Angie's sister Lorraine than I knew about her. I could better understand how her sister had fallen in love than how Angie had. I don't even believe that Angie was in love at all. I do feel that she was simply infatuated with the first boy that paid any attention to her and that she never really showed Jack any type of affection.
I couldn't connect to Angie at all. The pace was ridiculously slow. Angie herself was dull. There was hardly any dialogue or action between Angie and Jack. Maureen Daly seems to have more fun describing insignificant things like jukeboxes, roses and everyone and everything else except Angie and Jack and their relationship. This book frustrated me more than any other book I've read. The one star I managed to give it was for the few sweet moments there are.
I couldn't connect to Angie at all. The pace was ridiculously slow. Angie herself was dull. There was hardly any dialogue or action between Angie and Jack. Maureen Daly seems to have more fun describing insignificant things like jukeboxes, roses and everyone and everything else except Angie and Jack and their relationship. This book frustrated me more than any other book I've read. The one star I managed to give it was for the few sweet moments there are.
September 26, 2011
4.5 STARS
I am so glad my friend gave me this book for Christmas (thank you, Qt!) because I would probably have never picked it up myself; judging from the modern-looking cover, I would have written it off as an annoying and brainless teen romance. How wrong I would have been!!!
Here is the story, set in the early 1940s in Wisconsin, of seventeen-year-old high school graduate Angie Morrow and her first love, Jack. Though I would say this is a romance story, first and foremost, it's also a "coming of age" story as Angie comes to understand her dreams about the future, to view her parents and older sisters as adults, and to leave girlhood behind and move on to college. Her blossoming love for Jack serves as the catalyst, emotions and awareness heightened by her feelings for Jack so, rather than her relationship narrowing her focus to everything else, it helps her to see all of life and herself more clearly.
I loved the writing style here! I love all the 1940s elements, it is delightfully "dated" in so many ways, yet it is also so fresh and vibrant. Angie's thoughts and feelings as she falls in love are so timeless. The descriptions are just beautiful; even little tasks like picking tomatoes together, or going down for the umteenth time to the local hang-out for a Coke with friends, are somehow riveting! I just loved it!!!
A few times I felt things seemed a bit unnecessarily foreboding, but perhaps this was just a reflection of Angie in the early stages of a relationship, her uncertainty and not really feeling comfortable with her emotions or sure of Jack yet. Also, I felt a bit too much time was spent on the sister Lorraine and her relationship; it just seemed like too obvious a foil and, though I tried to be sympathetic to Lorraine, sometimes I just wanted to talk some sense into her! Other than that, though, I thought this was a five-star book.
I'm so glad this book is in print. (I believe the copyright is 1943 and it was written when the author was in college herself.) Like I Capture the Castle, its a book from times past that still holds great relevance to modern girls thanks to the vivid voice and deep thoughts and emotions of its heroine. Then again, I really was surprised at the overall low rating the book received here on GoodReads; perhaps I am just an "old fashioned girl" and girls today aren't that interested in Angie's story. In any case, I loved it and recommend it to those interested in the 1940s and sweet love stories that don't involve text messages, sex or vampires!
More about the author:
"Maureen Daly was one of the first authors whose work was aimed at a teenage audience. She is also a Scholastic Art & Writing Awards alum! Maureen won for her short story, Sixteen, in 1938. That same story was included in the 1938 O. Henry Collection, a rare honor for someone so young. She completed her first novel, Seventeenth Summer, before she was even twenty years old. Maureen also launched a teenage column for the Chicago Tribune, the first of its kind in the nation."
http://blog.artandwriting.org/2011/08...
I am so glad my friend gave me this book for Christmas (thank you, Qt!) because I would probably have never picked it up myself; judging from the modern-looking cover, I would have written it off as an annoying and brainless teen romance. How wrong I would have been!!!
Here is the story, set in the early 1940s in Wisconsin, of seventeen-year-old high school graduate Angie Morrow and her first love, Jack. Though I would say this is a romance story, first and foremost, it's also a "coming of age" story as Angie comes to understand her dreams about the future, to view her parents and older sisters as adults, and to leave girlhood behind and move on to college. Her blossoming love for Jack serves as the catalyst, emotions and awareness heightened by her feelings for Jack so, rather than her relationship narrowing her focus to everything else, it helps her to see all of life and herself more clearly.
I loved the writing style here! I love all the 1940s elements, it is delightfully "dated" in so many ways, yet it is also so fresh and vibrant. Angie's thoughts and feelings as she falls in love are so timeless. The descriptions are just beautiful; even little tasks like picking tomatoes together, or going down for the umteenth time to the local hang-out for a Coke with friends, are somehow riveting! I just loved it!!!
A few times I felt things seemed a bit unnecessarily foreboding, but perhaps this was just a reflection of Angie in the early stages of a relationship, her uncertainty and not really feeling comfortable with her emotions or sure of Jack yet. Also, I felt a bit too much time was spent on the sister Lorraine and her relationship; it just seemed like too obvious a foil and, though I tried to be sympathetic to Lorraine, sometimes I just wanted to talk some sense into her! Other than that, though, I thought this was a five-star book.
I'm so glad this book is in print. (I believe the copyright is 1943 and it was written when the author was in college herself.) Like I Capture the Castle, its a book from times past that still holds great relevance to modern girls thanks to the vivid voice and deep thoughts and emotions of its heroine. Then again, I really was surprised at the overall low rating the book received here on GoodReads; perhaps I am just an "old fashioned girl" and girls today aren't that interested in Angie's story. In any case, I loved it and recommend it to those interested in the 1940s and sweet love stories that don't involve text messages, sex or vampires!
More about the author:
"Maureen Daly was one of the first authors whose work was aimed at a teenage audience. She is also a Scholastic Art & Writing Awards alum! Maureen won for her short story, Sixteen, in 1938. That same story was included in the 1938 O. Henry Collection, a rare honor for someone so young. She completed her first novel, Seventeenth Summer, before she was even twenty years old. Maureen also launched a teenage column for the Chicago Tribune, the first of its kind in the nation."
http://blog.artandwriting.org/2011/08...
May 4, 2020
Some consider Maureen Daly's 1942 "Seventeenth Summer", written when she was 17 herself, the first prototype of a YA novel. When you look at the plot you can see why: 17 year old Angie has just finished school and spends the summer at home in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, before she is bound to leave for college in Chicago. Within the three months of summer break, she starts dating local high school basketball star Jack Duluth who she never thought would be interested in someone tame and uncool like her. There's a subplot about Angie's sister Lorraine, but the main plot is very straight forward.
I picked this up out of a stack of ARCs my mother wanted to throw away. Me and YA don't get along, but I've been really into books from the early 20th century lately so despite the less than novel plot this piqued my interest. Thankfully, it payed off. For one thing: This is wonderfully written in sparse and functional language, somewhere between literary and conversational. The themes and scenes may seem cheesy and predictable at times (first date, first kiss, first heartbreak, education or marriage etc), but the language never is. This coming of age story never felt anything but real to life and the main character was fleshed out well. I liked its introspective and slow pace.
I was also fascinated by the setting. Sometimes everything felt so modern, and then some dialogue made me laugh out loud because of how dated it was - the scene where Angie thinks she's going to look like a witch if she drinks a bottle of beer comes to mind. Or the way they met in a drugstore to drink coke, I'd never heard of drugstore-bar hybrids before. The way 'dating' worked was also really fascinating to me, eg Angie's parents keep encouraging her not to date just one boy, so they don't become too serious too fast. The way chastity and conformity was portrayed was really interesting as well. I thought the book was very tame but wikipedia tells me that the novel was really controversial for its time, because of the way it talks about a young girl's sexuality and desire - even though it's only hinted at. The underage drinking and smoking probably didn't help.
A bizarre moment to me was when Jack has dinner with Angie's family, and he behaves in a way that makes Angie feel ashamed. In general, I thought this feeling was very well-captured, but the reasons for her shame read just so oddly. First, she thinks Jack's family probably don't even own a butter knife (the horror!) and then this gem:
"Even now it is hard to talk about what happened next. It was too awful. It was the kind of thing you read about but can't believe could ever happen to you. It sent the tears. [...] But eating such a simple thing as ice cream and with my family sitting there and everything, Jack clicked his spoon against his teeth! He looked up in surprise, as if he were wondering who could have done it."
You had to have been there, I guess.
The ending surprised me in a good way. It was melancholic, bitter-sweet and realistic. It's also what made me give this 4 stars instead of 3. I'm happy I read this. It also confirms my suspicion that I have zero problems reading coming of age stories or classical love story themes - I just hate the way modern YA is written.
I picked this up out of a stack of ARCs my mother wanted to throw away. Me and YA don't get along, but I've been really into books from the early 20th century lately so despite the less than novel plot this piqued my interest. Thankfully, it payed off. For one thing: This is wonderfully written in sparse and functional language, somewhere between literary and conversational. The themes and scenes may seem cheesy and predictable at times (first date, first kiss, first heartbreak, education or marriage etc), but the language never is. This coming of age story never felt anything but real to life and the main character was fleshed out well. I liked its introspective and slow pace.
I was also fascinated by the setting. Sometimes everything felt so modern, and then some dialogue made me laugh out loud because of how dated it was - the scene where Angie thinks she's going to look like a witch if she drinks a bottle of beer comes to mind. Or the way they met in a drugstore to drink coke, I'd never heard of drugstore-bar hybrids before. The way 'dating' worked was also really fascinating to me, eg Angie's parents keep encouraging her not to date just one boy, so they don't become too serious too fast. The way chastity and conformity was portrayed was really interesting as well. I thought the book was very tame but wikipedia tells me that the novel was really controversial for its time, because of the way it talks about a young girl's sexuality and desire - even though it's only hinted at. The underage drinking and smoking probably didn't help.
A bizarre moment to me was when Jack has dinner with Angie's family, and he behaves in a way that makes Angie feel ashamed. In general, I thought this feeling was very well-captured, but the reasons for her shame read just so oddly. First, she thinks Jack's family probably don't even own a butter knife (the horror!) and then this gem:
"Even now it is hard to talk about what happened next. It was too awful. It was the kind of thing you read about but can't believe could ever happen to you. It sent the tears. [...] But eating such a simple thing as ice cream and with my family sitting there and everything, Jack clicked his spoon against his teeth! He looked up in surprise, as if he were wondering who could have done it."
You had to have been there, I guess.
The ending surprised me in a good way. It was melancholic, bitter-sweet and realistic. It's also what made me give this 4 stars instead of 3. I'm happy I read this. It also confirms my suspicion that I have zero problems reading coming of age stories or classical love story themes - I just hate the way modern YA is written.
August 17, 2015
What amazes me most about this book is that it was written by a girl who was seventeen at the time of writing it. That the author wrote this story so she would always remember just what it felt like to be seventeen. She did a beautiful job of it.
This is a book that is prose heavy - lots of lyrical description which isn't unusual for the time period. The thing is, I happen to like this style, and enjoyed feeling everything she did as she experienced the world around her. But then, this was such a familiar world to me. I grew up in small town Wisconsin in the 1970's - and to be honest, this kind of life was not that different from what I experienced so much of the time. Also, having spent a great deal of time in and around Fond du Lac where this takes place, I felt like I was home again, seeing things that exist there still today - the marina and lighthouse for example. The park that was hinted at as being built I used to love. And finding that drive-in along the lake a few miles out of town - well there was one out there I visited before that seemed absolutely ancient so I have to wonder if it's still there, and was the actual place in the book, or if that one was made up from other places. It's hard to say.
I loved this book deeply and my only regret is that it ended and gave us nothing further of her life. I wanted so much for there to be another book so I could revisit Angie and her family, to maybe see Jack and Swede and the rest.
Overall...give the book time as you read it, so you can savor the descriptions and fall into the story. Accept it for being perhaps different from books today because it was written so long ago. And enjoy Angie and all her doubts and fears and triumphs.
I suspect this book will stay with me for a very long time.
This is a book that is prose heavy - lots of lyrical description which isn't unusual for the time period. The thing is, I happen to like this style, and enjoyed feeling everything she did as she experienced the world around her. But then, this was such a familiar world to me. I grew up in small town Wisconsin in the 1970's - and to be honest, this kind of life was not that different from what I experienced so much of the time. Also, having spent a great deal of time in and around Fond du Lac where this takes place, I felt like I was home again, seeing things that exist there still today - the marina and lighthouse for example. The park that was hinted at as being built I used to love. And finding that drive-in along the lake a few miles out of town - well there was one out there I visited before that seemed absolutely ancient so I have to wonder if it's still there, and was the actual place in the book, or if that one was made up from other places. It's hard to say.
I loved this book deeply and my only regret is that it ended and gave us nothing further of her life. I wanted so much for there to be another book so I could revisit Angie and her family, to maybe see Jack and Swede and the rest.
Overall...give the book time as you read it, so you can savor the descriptions and fall into the story. Accept it for being perhaps different from books today because it was written so long ago. And enjoy Angie and all her doubts and fears and triumphs.
I suspect this book will stay with me for a very long time.
July 15, 2025
“When I eat, everything tastes so good I can't get all the taste out of it; when I look at something-say, the lake-the waves are so green and the foam so white that it seems I can't look at it hard enough; there seems to be something there that I can't get at. And even when I'm with you, I can't seem to be with you...enough.”
― Maureen Daly, Seventeenth Summer
This is about first love for a 17 year old teenager in the 1940's. I read it as a kid. It really is pure YA and is a coming of age story as well as a romance .
I happen to love the way it is written. The story takes place in Wisconsin and meadows, streams, green green grass and the smell of summer time are all around. I like descriptive writing and I like to feel as if I am living in the pages with the characters.
Angie and Jack's relationship is not always the main focus as there is much that happens. This was an early read for me and one I still remember quite fondly.
― Maureen Daly, Seventeenth Summer
This is about first love for a 17 year old teenager in the 1940's. I read it as a kid. It really is pure YA and is a coming of age story as well as a romance .
I happen to love the way it is written. The story takes place in Wisconsin and meadows, streams, green green grass and the smell of summer time are all around. I like descriptive writing and I like to feel as if I am living in the pages with the characters.
Angie and Jack's relationship is not always the main focus as there is much that happens. This was an early read for me and one I still remember quite fondly.
February 22, 2012
I'll skip over the plot summary stuff because everyone can very well read it at the top of this page, and I'll plow right on with my criticisms.
I didn't like this book at all. I was so disappointed, I couldn't even finish it. I'm sorry, but not even Twilight has brought this kind of feeling. I was so excited to read this book but after getting through the half of it, my disappointment overrode everything else. First, because of the heroine. Angie Morrow is just so stoic, and plain, and simply boring; I felt that there was no real depth with her character, and I just wanted to shake or slap her while reading the novel. Maybe because it happened "back in the day", but golly, she's just got to breakaway even once. She's too much of a goody-goody, I didn't like her at all. I understand that it was a different time when table manners should be made important, but when she felt ashamed of Jack for clicking his spoon with his teeth, I almost blew up with indignation. Such a shallow reason! And, she liked Jack, that I could tell, but she's got to express it on her own terms even once! And halfway through the book I couldn't find a development with her character.
Secondly, the plot itself. It was just so slooooooow, I wanted to hurl the book across the room. Is this really considered a classic? Its "classic" reputation was what first called my attention to it, but it has not quite lived up to its fellows. I think three quarters of it was spent on tiresome descriptions of the setting, and the remaining quarter on the story. Jack and Angie started dating, faced the imminence of separation, and then parted amiably. How predictable. Or at least, it wasn't extraordinary.
Lastly, their relationship. Jack and Angie's relationship just seemed so ordinary and didn't excite me or made me feel sparks. Sure, I allow that it was a quiet sort of love, but even those kind of loves should make the reader feel something. I hardly felt anything with their relationship. Yes, I though Jack was a sweet character, but he wasn't great enough to make me fall in love, and Angie described him in an unflattering way. I feel obliged to hand it to the author that he wasn't stereotypical, though.
The author had some really good way of describing things, but for the most part those parts of the book were very tedious. I simply couldn't keep on shouting at the book for them to do something remotely renegade, or maybe that is just me. I simply just wanted them to make me feel something.
I didn't like this book at all. I was so disappointed, I couldn't even finish it. I'm sorry, but not even Twilight has brought this kind of feeling. I was so excited to read this book but after getting through the half of it, my disappointment overrode everything else. First, because of the heroine. Angie Morrow is just so stoic, and plain, and simply boring; I felt that there was no real depth with her character, and I just wanted to shake or slap her while reading the novel. Maybe because it happened "back in the day", but golly, she's just got to breakaway even once. She's too much of a goody-goody, I didn't like her at all. I understand that it was a different time when table manners should be made important, but when she felt ashamed of Jack for clicking his spoon with his teeth, I almost blew up with indignation. Such a shallow reason! And, she liked Jack, that I could tell, but she's got to express it on her own terms even once! And halfway through the book I couldn't find a development with her character.
Secondly, the plot itself. It was just so slooooooow, I wanted to hurl the book across the room. Is this really considered a classic? Its "classic" reputation was what first called my attention to it, but it has not quite lived up to its fellows. I think three quarters of it was spent on tiresome descriptions of the setting, and the remaining quarter on the story. Jack and Angie started dating, faced the imminence of separation, and then parted amiably. How predictable. Or at least, it wasn't extraordinary.
Lastly, their relationship. Jack and Angie's relationship just seemed so ordinary and didn't excite me or made me feel sparks. Sure, I allow that it was a quiet sort of love, but even those kind of loves should make the reader feel something. I hardly felt anything with their relationship. Yes, I though Jack was a sweet character, but he wasn't great enough to make me fall in love, and Angie described him in an unflattering way. I feel obliged to hand it to the author that he wasn't stereotypical, though.
The author had some really good way of describing things, but for the most part those parts of the book were very tedious. I simply couldn't keep on shouting at the book for them to do something remotely renegade, or maybe that is just me. I simply just wanted them to make me feel something.
January 29, 2012
First off, thank you ever so much for recommending this to me, Kathryn!
What a lovely experience reading this was. I feel I truly lived this seventeenth summer along with the darling Angie: I could feel the fragrant warmth of June; the sticky heat of July; and August with its creeping autumnal chills. The descriptions were luxuriously luminous, and never felt overwrought to me. Also, the prose was so fresh-eyed I think it only could've been written by a young female. (Wikipedia tells me Maureen Daly was 17 when she started writing this. A fact which both impresses me and makes complete logical sense.)
The cover is incredibly misleading, as this book was written in the 1940s. (I think it needs a new printing with a nice vintage cover, don't you?) Of course this book is dated, but in the most charming sense of the word! Personally, I think young-adult romances have degenerated, as I found this innocent and beautiful story to be right up my alley.
Since I have been living in the town of Fond du Lac for the past 20 something hours, having to read the last page and say goodbye made me ever so sad. Actually, here's a confession: I happened to go to the library shortly after I finished Seventeenth Summer, but I didn't take it with me to return it. I wasn't quite ready to let it go back.
I believe that would add up to 4.5 stars from me. :)
What a lovely experience reading this was. I feel I truly lived this seventeenth summer along with the darling Angie: I could feel the fragrant warmth of June; the sticky heat of July; and August with its creeping autumnal chills. The descriptions were luxuriously luminous, and never felt overwrought to me. Also, the prose was so fresh-eyed I think it only could've been written by a young female. (Wikipedia tells me Maureen Daly was 17 when she started writing this. A fact which both impresses me and makes complete logical sense.)
The cover is incredibly misleading, as this book was written in the 1940s. (I think it needs a new printing with a nice vintage cover, don't you?) Of course this book is dated, but in the most charming sense of the word! Personally, I think young-adult romances have degenerated, as I found this innocent and beautiful story to be right up my alley.
Since I have been living in the town of Fond du Lac for the past 20 something hours, having to read the last page and say goodbye made me ever so sad. Actually, here's a confession: I happened to go to the library shortly after I finished Seventeenth Summer, but I didn't take it with me to return it. I wasn't quite ready to let it go back.
I believe that would add up to 4.5 stars from me. :)
December 1, 2008
Seventeenth Summer was better than I thought it would be. It was a little hard to get into, although that didn't surprise me since it's from the 40's and writing styles have changed so much.
I wasn't thrilled with the ending...it seemed rather unfinished to me. I almost want to look and see if there is a sequel, because I want to know why Lorraine's life was so bad after the book (as Angie explains on page 115) and, naturally, I'd like to know if Jack and Angie really do keep in touch after they both leave town.
What I did like, however, was the obvious glimpse the book gives you at the time period. The rules and etiquette, etc., that you can see in movies but it's hard to explain in a book. Daly did such a good job of incorporating these nuances into the book that only a few times did I realize how absurd most of the rules would be in present day - not to mention how shocked the characters would be.
I liked Daly's style of writing - very informal and open. She also made the book entirely from Angie's point of view and did it so well that sometimes the reader was just as naive as Angie.
Overall, I liked it. I"m not sure I'll be revisiting it that often, not how often I'd be able to recommend it - but if you're looking for a semi-historical read about first love, this is a good place to start.
I wasn't thrilled with the ending...it seemed rather unfinished to me. I almost want to look and see if there is a sequel, because I want to know why Lorraine's life was so bad after the book (as Angie explains on page 115) and, naturally, I'd like to know if Jack and Angie really do keep in touch after they both leave town.
What I did like, however, was the obvious glimpse the book gives you at the time period. The rules and etiquette, etc., that you can see in movies but it's hard to explain in a book. Daly did such a good job of incorporating these nuances into the book that only a few times did I realize how absurd most of the rules would be in present day - not to mention how shocked the characters would be.
I liked Daly's style of writing - very informal and open. She also made the book entirely from Angie's point of view and did it so well that sometimes the reader was just as naive as Angie.
Overall, I liked it. I"m not sure I'll be revisiting it that often, not how often I'd be able to recommend it - but if you're looking for a semi-historical read about first love, this is a good place to start.
January 11, 2022
Also for my MLIS elective
Read 30 pages from each section. The writing was a bit flowery but I didn't mind it. If you like lots of description about nature, this book has it all.
And the author published this when she was 21 (she wrote it as a teen though) AND she attended my school (!)
Content warning: fatphobia, racism (I skimmed but a white character made a "I'd rather be a dead Chinaman" comment... I know this book was set/released in the 1940s but Y I K E S)
Read 30 pages from each section. The writing was a bit flowery but I didn't mind it. If you like lots of description about nature, this book has it all.
And the author published this when she was 21 (she wrote it as a teen though) AND she attended my school (!)
Content warning: fatphobia, racism (I skimmed but a white character made a "I'd rather be a dead Chinaman" comment... I know this book was set/released in the 1940s but Y I K E S)
August 13, 2013
Whenever I think of this book I can't help but laugh.
The positives: I like the organization. June, July, August. Very rational. The main character is going through something relatable to most teen girls: her first love. Swoon
And now for the main event. When I first read this book in 2011, I couldn't help but remember The Rape of the Lock. For all you English Majors out there, here's a refresher. What seems to be a mighty battle between good and evil, chastity and demonic sexual deviancy, is actually a game of cards and then later a man coming up to a young woman and cutting off a lock of her hair because he fancies her. Yep. It's an extended metaphor that points out the stupidity of social mores while at the same time being pretty damn funny (in my not so humble opinion).
Seventeenth Summer has some similar scenes. How about when Jack (Angie's love interest) makes the Biggest Faux Pas Ever at dinner?
Now. I must say. If I've ever clicked my teeth against a utensil whist eating at a friend or significant other's house... I'm unbelievably sorry. That being said, who really cares, Angie?!
It's scenes like that one that make me think it's nice to read books that take place in the 1950's educational purposes (and let's face it, to make fun of them a bit), but I could never see myself making an actual teenager read this book.
The positives: I like the organization. June, July, August. Very rational. The main character is going through something relatable to most teen girls: her first love. Swoon
And now for the main event. When I first read this book in 2011, I couldn't help but remember The Rape of the Lock. For all you English Majors out there, here's a refresher. What seems to be a mighty battle between good and evil, chastity and demonic sexual deviancy, is actually a game of cards and then later a man coming up to a young woman and cutting off a lock of her hair because he fancies her. Yep. It's an extended metaphor that points out the stupidity of social mores while at the same time being pretty damn funny (in my not so humble opinion).
Seventeenth Summer has some similar scenes. How about when Jack (Angie's love interest) makes the Biggest Faux Pas Ever at dinner?
"Even now it is hard to talk about what happened next. It was too awful. It was the kind of thing you read about but can't believe could ever happen to you. It sent the tears... [yada yada she's real embarrassed, okay?!] But eating such a simple thing as ice cream and with my family sitting there an everything, Jack clicked his spoon against his teeth! He looked up in surprise, as if he were wondering who could have done it..." (197).
Now. I must say. If I've ever clicked my teeth against a utensil whist eating at a friend or significant other's house... I'm unbelievably sorry. That being said, who really cares, Angie?!
It's scenes like that one that make me think it's nice to read books that take place in the 1950's educational purposes (and let's face it, to make fun of them a bit), but I could never see myself making an actual teenager read this book.
April 5, 2019
In dem Roman "Siebzehnter Sommer" erlebt die 17jährige Protagonistin Angie den Sommer ihres Lebens. Angie hat gerade ihren Highschool-Abschluss gemacht und bis zum Beginn des Colleges bleiben ihr drei freie Sommermonate, die sie bei ihren Eltern in einer amerikanischen Kleinstadt verbringt. Gleich zu Beginn ihrer Ferien lernt sie den Basketballstar Jack kennen und damit beginnt eine wunderschöne, bezaubernde Liebesgeschichte. Diese erste Liebe wird so wunderbar locker und leicht und ohne jeglichen Kitsch erzählt, wie ich es bisher nur selten in einem Buch erlebt habe. Ich kann als Leser wunderbar mit Angie mitfühlen, ihre Ängste, Unsicherheiten und Glücksgefühle miterleben. Auch wenn meine eigene Teenagerzeit schon lange vorbei ist, habe ich mich beim Lesen dieses herrlichen Romans wieder selber wie 17 gefühlt. Die Autorin beschreibt alles sehr anschaulich, bildlich und lebendig. Und die Personen wirken sehr echt und authentisch. Die Sprache ist zum Teil ein wenig altmodisch und sehr lyrisch gehalten. Sehr passend dazu finde ich das hübsche Cover, mit den ansprechenden, schön leuchtenden Farben.
Ich finde es wirklich erstaunlich, dass die Autorin dieses Buch in einem Alter von 17 Jahren geschrieben hat. Das Buch liest sich so unglaublich angenehm flüssig und ich konnte als Leser richtig gut in dieser Liebesgeschichte versinken und wegträumen.
Ich spreche eine absolute Leseempfehlung für dieses bezaubernde, wunderschöne Buch aus und wünsche ihm viele begeisterte Leser.
Ich finde es wirklich erstaunlich, dass die Autorin dieses Buch in einem Alter von 17 Jahren geschrieben hat. Das Buch liest sich so unglaublich angenehm flüssig und ich konnte als Leser richtig gut in dieser Liebesgeschichte versinken und wegträumen.
Ich spreche eine absolute Leseempfehlung für dieses bezaubernde, wunderschöne Buch aus und wünsche ihm viele begeisterte Leser.
August 12, 2011
Whenver there is a fallish type of day in August, as today is, I am reminded of this book that I first experienced when I was entering eighth grade; it was a cast-off from older sisters, and I yearned to be a teenager like them, so I read the book to get an idea. It touched me so much, and I always return to thoughts of it on days as I mentioned above. What a brilliant book for a teenage girl to write at a time so innocent and different from our sex-driven culture today. I have bought so many copies for people that I think I have to go buy another one for myself -- and give that away too.
June 17, 2023
This book was dated even when I first read it - and yet there is something very appealing and convincing about it. Angie's lyrical summer romance is contrasted to the guy her sister dates, educated but sleazy and unreliable.
My review: http://perfectretort.blogspot.com/202...
My review: http://perfectretort.blogspot.com/202...
February 10, 2018
I am not a big reader of romantic stories, but I really loved this one for its beautiful writing, and also because it was written in the 40s, which made it more interesting to me. Really, really liked it.
April 1, 2012
Alright, so I'm going to give a quick summary of the book as the summary above doesn't do this book justice. However, my summary is going going to be a few sentences long because I don't want to give anything away!
Seventeenth Summer is about a girl named Angie who, over the course of the summer, falls deeply in love with a boy named Jack. It divulges into her world, and how she lives her life in her small town. It's really a coming-of-age novel, and is about a girl becoming the woman she is meant to be because of love.
I loved this book. As soon as I saw the date of publication (1942) I knew this was something I would love to read. Anything that is older, displaying a time that I'm not from appeals to me. The way Daly words everything is incredibly descriptive, making you feel like you are there experiencing everything with the characters. She is able to describe the smell of the air, to the way a first kiss feels, to the flavor of salty oceanic air.
Daly has a smooth way of trapping you into this world with all of the characters, and it's almost as though time hasn't changed since then. It doesn't matter that this book was written in 1942 because, despite time difference, love will always remain the same. And the awkward feeling of being in love, not knowing how to admit it, or not knowing if the other person feels the same, will forever be the same. At times, this book can seem a little bit slow because of the intensity of the descriptions, but trust me, it picks right back up.
I recommend this book to anyone looking for a love story that will run through your mind for many, many days after the final page is turned. I've found myself fallen in love with each and every character in this book.
Consider yourself warned: This book tugs at your heartstrings, makes you laugh, cry, and smile goofily despite yourself. It makes you angry, and you want to yell at Angie to just please admit how she feels! And you want to just snuggle up and re-read the gentle words said by Jack if only to hold him closer to your heart, and have him leave a permanent impression that somehow doesn't fade easily with time.
Seventeenth Summer is about a girl named Angie who, over the course of the summer, falls deeply in love with a boy named Jack. It divulges into her world, and how she lives her life in her small town. It's really a coming-of-age novel, and is about a girl becoming the woman she is meant to be because of love.
I loved this book. As soon as I saw the date of publication (1942) I knew this was something I would love to read. Anything that is older, displaying a time that I'm not from appeals to me. The way Daly words everything is incredibly descriptive, making you feel like you are there experiencing everything with the characters. She is able to describe the smell of the air, to the way a first kiss feels, to the flavor of salty oceanic air.
Daly has a smooth way of trapping you into this world with all of the characters, and it's almost as though time hasn't changed since then. It doesn't matter that this book was written in 1942 because, despite time difference, love will always remain the same. And the awkward feeling of being in love, not knowing how to admit it, or not knowing if the other person feels the same, will forever be the same. At times, this book can seem a little bit slow because of the intensity of the descriptions, but trust me, it picks right back up.
I recommend this book to anyone looking for a love story that will run through your mind for many, many days after the final page is turned. I've found myself fallen in love with each and every character in this book.
Consider yourself warned: This book tugs at your heartstrings, makes you laugh, cry, and smile goofily despite yourself. It makes you angry, and you want to yell at Angie to just please admit how she feels! And you want to just snuggle up and re-read the gentle words said by Jack if only to hold him closer to your heart, and have him leave a permanent impression that somehow doesn't fade easily with time.
September 18, 2011
I wish I would have known that this book didn't take place during today's day and age. I had a really hard time reading this book. I felt like they were speaking in another language. And once I figured out that it happened "back in the day" although I'm still not sure what time period this was, it became a little easier to read, but it was just so choppy, I guess.
I think I may have been more prepared to enjoy it. I guess it's kind of sad that it's acceptable in today's society that teen relationships move at such as faster pace. I was pretty much bored to tears that the pace was so incredibly slow. I kept waiting and waiting for something to happen, and it never did.
Having said that, being prepared for the slow pace would have made this book a little more enjoyable, but I'm not sure how much more. I kept wanting to shake Angie. At first, I was frustrated with her because she thought so much that it made my head hurt. I understand having your first crush and the things that you worry about. But Angie started imagining thing that could happen or would happen, and it was just really confusing and frustrating that i just wanted her to get a grip.
After the first 35 pages or so though, I just thought her character was quite boring, unemotional and rather stoic. I'm not sure if it was because of the time period or what, but she didn't act like a normal person would act in reaction to some of the events. Her character was just so bland.
I don't know. I just didn't like this book on so many levels.
I think I may have been more prepared to enjoy it. I guess it's kind of sad that it's acceptable in today's society that teen relationships move at such as faster pace. I was pretty much bored to tears that the pace was so incredibly slow. I kept waiting and waiting for something to happen, and it never did.
Having said that, being prepared for the slow pace would have made this book a little more enjoyable, but I'm not sure how much more. I kept wanting to shake Angie. At first, I was frustrated with her because she thought so much that it made my head hurt. I understand having your first crush and the things that you worry about. But Angie started imagining thing that could happen or would happen, and it was just really confusing and frustrating that i just wanted her to get a grip.
After the first 35 pages or so though, I just thought her character was quite boring, unemotional and rather stoic. I'm not sure if it was because of the time period or what, but she didn't act like a normal person would act in reaction to some of the events. Her character was just so bland.
I don't know. I just didn't like this book on so many levels.
May 14, 2023
"Seventeenth Summer" by Maureen Daly is a beautifully written, tender coming-of-age novel that transports readers to the 1940s. With gentle and poetic prose, Daly weaves a heartfelt narrative that explores youth, love, and self-discovery. The story follows Angie Morrow, a young woman on the cusp of adulthood, as she navigates the joys and complexities of her seventeenth summer. Through Angie's eyes, readers witness the magic and vulnerability of first love while delving into themes of friendship, personal growth, and family expectations.
What sets "Seventeenth Summer" apart is its ability to portray the emotional rollercoaster of adolescence with remarkable authenticity. I enjoyed the fact that Angie was free-thinking and willing to not be totally constrained by the social mores of the day. The characters are wonderfully drawn and multi-dimensional, reflecting the hopes, dreams, and insecurities that plague young adults as they transition into adulthood.
Daly's authentic and evocative writing makes this novel a worthwhile read. I found myself being invited to relive my own now, nostalgic journey of my youth.
What sets "Seventeenth Summer" apart is its ability to portray the emotional rollercoaster of adolescence with remarkable authenticity. I enjoyed the fact that Angie was free-thinking and willing to not be totally constrained by the social mores of the day. The characters are wonderfully drawn and multi-dimensional, reflecting the hopes, dreams, and insecurities that plague young adults as they transition into adulthood.
Daly's authentic and evocative writing makes this novel a worthwhile read. I found myself being invited to relive my own now, nostalgic journey of my youth.
March 2, 2023
3.5 stars. This was sweet! Not exhilarating or anything, but sorta like a 1942 version of The Summer I Turned Pretty! A character driven look at the summer of one teenage girl. This was one of the first books to ever be considered YA so that’s pretty cool! And omg Julia Whelan narrating sounded so much younger than I’m used to!!
March 31, 2021
Verkligen en underbar bok! Perfekt tonårspirr och kärlek!! Men främst tagen över vilken otrolig författare Daly var! En mästare av liknelser? Ja! Så pregnant och fint och mustigt och klarsynt sätt att beskriva, amazed!
February 11, 2008
I liked the simplistic nature of their love. It made me yearn for respect and honor, modesty and decency. I admire that slow courtship. The plot is kind of slow, but that's how I think of their lifestyle. Slow and simplistic. Innocent and calm. The book itself I think wasn't fantastic, but I liked the romance and the character development.
September 18, 2024
Once upon a time this book was my mother's favorite novel, which she read every summer in her teen years when her family would drive across the state to visit her grandmother in Orange, Texas. When I asked her about the book recently, she remembered it feeling magical, and romantic as hell. So obviously I wanted to read it to see what captured my mom's imagination so much as a fifteen year old that she would re-read it every summer for years.
Seventeenth Summer was first published in 1942 so it exists in a world that feels very far away now. Apparently this is the very first Young Adult novel ever written - the first in the genre! For some reason, I kept expecting something very bad to happen. I was sure one of the main characters was going to die, and at one point the mom gets sick and I was convinced she was going to die suddenly, and at one point their friend who is in a bad emotional state drives them home and I was sure that the car was going to wreck and they were all going to die. It became obvious that the hundreds of YA books I've read that were written after this have completely ruined me. Happily, literally nothing bad happens in this book except that summer ends and we all get really sad about it. And more than that, we get wonderfully rich, delicate, prose describing the abundance of summer - the wonder of sun and water and ripe fruit and blooming flowers and wind blowing through your hair and cold sodas at the drugstore, and bonfires at night in the woods, and dances and drives in the car late at night.
However, the times were different socially - boys had all the power, girls were just along for the ride in almost all areas of life - and culturally - lots of slang I have never heard, at one point they use a victrola, and a victory garden is mentioned. Settling down into this time takes a little getting used to, but we're basically soothed into a relaxed, lazy summer state of mind in the first chapter and it never really ends until that last few pages. It feels a little like the first 1/4th of Dirty Dancing when Baby is having a wonderful, family-friendly, sweetly innocent summer in the countryside, before anything dramatic happens.
I find myself having some very puzzling feelings about the book. Angie, our main character, spends most of the novel in her head, self-focused on her innermost thoughts and feelings. She barely says a word the entire book. It's possible that the author is very talented, and purposely wrote her to have a sort of hazy unfinished quality, like she's still half of a person that hasn't been fully formed and modeled yet. Angie is perfectly and completely naive about so many things but has enough awareness to know that you never pick up a boy's phone call on the first ring, and you never look too eager. But most of the time Angie is inexplicably without personality, without clear motivations, dispassionate, insecure, and speaks so little to Jack that it's hard to believe they ever started to date to begin with. I still kind of like her. She is just such a foreign character type. I would even venture that she might be considered neurodivergent by today's standards.
On the other hand we have Jack, who does seem to be a fully formed person, with passions and desires, good communication skills, and clear motivations. He is supremely likable in every way. The difference between the two, and how they ended up together, is kind of a headscratcher.
The ending gives you a similar feeling to the credits scene of Call Me By Your Name, where Elio slowly, silently cries tears of heartbreak while staring into the fire by way of our souls, Sufjan playing in the background. I was left feeling supremely unsatisfied by their goodbye, and by Angie's inability to communicate her feelings. She left us all in the lurch, including herself. I feel she did herself a disservice and wasn't even honest with herself and I just felt sad for Jack. What she was thinking and feeling will remain a mystery to him UNTIL THE END OF TIME because you just know they never saw each other again after that day at the train station. My only consolation is that they did seem to have some kind of intuitive understanding of what eachother were thinking and by the end, they are communicating without words pretty regularly, so maybe he knew at least a little bit.
Seventeenth Summer was first published in 1942 so it exists in a world that feels very far away now. Apparently this is the very first Young Adult novel ever written - the first in the genre! For some reason, I kept expecting something very bad to happen. I was sure one of the main characters was going to die, and at one point the mom gets sick and I was convinced she was going to die suddenly, and at one point their friend who is in a bad emotional state drives them home and I was sure that the car was going to wreck and they were all going to die. It became obvious that the hundreds of YA books I've read that were written after this have completely ruined me. Happily, literally nothing bad happens in this book except that summer ends and we all get really sad about it. And more than that, we get wonderfully rich, delicate, prose describing the abundance of summer - the wonder of sun and water and ripe fruit and blooming flowers and wind blowing through your hair and cold sodas at the drugstore, and bonfires at night in the woods, and dances and drives in the car late at night.
However, the times were different socially - boys had all the power, girls were just along for the ride in almost all areas of life - and culturally - lots of slang I have never heard, at one point they use a victrola, and a victory garden is mentioned. Settling down into this time takes a little getting used to, but we're basically soothed into a relaxed, lazy summer state of mind in the first chapter and it never really ends until that last few pages. It feels a little like the first 1/4th of Dirty Dancing when Baby is having a wonderful, family-friendly, sweetly innocent summer in the countryside, before anything dramatic happens.
I find myself having some very puzzling feelings about the book. Angie, our main character, spends most of the novel in her head, self-focused on her innermost thoughts and feelings. She barely says a word the entire book. It's possible that the author is very talented, and purposely wrote her to have a sort of hazy unfinished quality, like she's still half of a person that hasn't been fully formed and modeled yet. Angie is perfectly and completely naive about so many things but has enough awareness to know that you never pick up a boy's phone call on the first ring, and you never look too eager. But most of the time Angie is inexplicably without personality, without clear motivations, dispassionate, insecure, and speaks so little to Jack that it's hard to believe they ever started to date to begin with. I still kind of like her. She is just such a foreign character type. I would even venture that she might be considered neurodivergent by today's standards.
On the other hand we have Jack, who does seem to be a fully formed person, with passions and desires, good communication skills, and clear motivations. He is supremely likable in every way. The difference between the two, and how they ended up together, is kind of a headscratcher.
The ending gives you a similar feeling to the credits scene of Call Me By Your Name, where Elio slowly, silently cries tears of heartbreak while staring into the fire by way of our souls, Sufjan playing in the background. I was left feeling supremely unsatisfied by their goodbye, and by Angie's inability to communicate her feelings. She left us all in the lurch, including herself. I feel she did herself a disservice and wasn't even honest with herself and I just felt sad for Jack. What she was thinking and feeling will remain a mystery to him UNTIL THE END OF TIME because you just know they never saw each other again after that day at the train station. My only consolation is that they did seem to have some kind of intuitive understanding of what eachother were thinking and by the end, they are communicating without words pretty regularly, so maybe he knew at least a little bit.
July 26, 2024
What was the point of this we don’t even know what happens to the characters at the end. All this was is Angie and Jack going out to the diner and drinking coke and hanging out with their friends. They barely even talked how can they be in love? Here is my long list I wrote down of why I dislike Angie while reading the book:
- She didn’t tell her friend she had lipgloss on her teeth because her friend’s bf wasn’t looking at her friend anyways
- She slowly started to hate her really sweet bf because his teeth clicked against the spoon a couple times at her family dinner. Before that at the same dinner her father passed him the salad bowl quickly while he was talking, so he almost spilled his water with one hand but caught it in time while managing to keep up the conversation?! She was very embarrassed her family saw that!?
- Example: “my mind squirmed with repulsion and my lips curled with distaste as I thought of it. Any boy who couldn’t even eat ice cream without making noise!” (Keep in mind this is the really cute and sweet basketball captain who has treated her very well. She wasn’t popular until he asked her to go out with him)
- She hung up the phone quickly on her bf to make him think all night that she might be mad at him because she likes it when a boy worries over her
- She felt embarrassed for smiling in church cuz her bf had a straight face while praying next to her
- She wasn’t “going steady” with the cute basketball boy (Jack) so she agreed to go out with the more “fast” (inappropriate) boy for a night. Jack was upset tho cuz they’d been going out all week and supposedly she didn’t know this other boy was “fast”. Nothing happened with the other boy tho she was kinda a tame girl for him lmao.
- Her family dog’s name is Kinkee 💀
- What is it with this time period cuz miss girl really said “Wasn’t I a little young to be liking a boy?” GIRL YOU’RE 17 and she’s going to college in a month what
- Her bf told her he loved her and she didn’t say anything so they drove back to her house, and the next day when she thought about him saying that she said it was “too disturbing to mull over by myself”
- She didn’t tell her friend she had lipgloss on her teeth because her friend’s bf wasn’t looking at her friend anyways
- She slowly started to hate her really sweet bf because his teeth clicked against the spoon a couple times at her family dinner. Before that at the same dinner her father passed him the salad bowl quickly while he was talking, so he almost spilled his water with one hand but caught it in time while managing to keep up the conversation?! She was very embarrassed her family saw that!?
- Example: “my mind squirmed with repulsion and my lips curled with distaste as I thought of it. Any boy who couldn’t even eat ice cream without making noise!” (Keep in mind this is the really cute and sweet basketball captain who has treated her very well. She wasn’t popular until he asked her to go out with him)
- She hung up the phone quickly on her bf to make him think all night that she might be mad at him because she likes it when a boy worries over her
- She felt embarrassed for smiling in church cuz her bf had a straight face while praying next to her
- She wasn’t “going steady” with the cute basketball boy (Jack) so she agreed to go out with the more “fast” (inappropriate) boy for a night. Jack was upset tho cuz they’d been going out all week and supposedly she didn’t know this other boy was “fast”. Nothing happened with the other boy tho she was kinda a tame girl for him lmao.
- Her family dog’s name is Kinkee 💀
- What is it with this time period cuz miss girl really said “Wasn’t I a little young to be liking a boy?” GIRL YOU’RE 17 and she’s going to college in a month what
- Her bf told her he loved her and she didn’t say anything so they drove back to her house, and the next day when she thought about him saying that she said it was “too disturbing to mull over by myself”
February 19, 2021
The greatest value that "SEVENTEENTH SUMMER" has as a novel is in recapturing what first love was like during the early 1940s for an adolescent in Wisconsin fresh out of high school faced with a summer in which she (Angie Morrow) experiences the full measure of that love. A love that, like a double-edged sword, offers pain as well as pleasure, for both Angie and Jack Duluth.
"SEVENTEENTH SUMMER" was the precursor for what would later be defined as the Young Adult fiction genre. Therein is its value. Indeed, it was during the 1940s that the word "teenager" entered the lexicon for the first time. Prior to this novel's original publication in 1942, scant attention had been given in popular literature to the lives of adolescents. "SEVENTEENTH SUMMER" was a best seller in its day and was ranked as one of the most read novels among American youth during the 1940s.
"SEVENTEENTH SUMMER" was the precursor for what would later be defined as the Young Adult fiction genre. Therein is its value. Indeed, it was during the 1940s that the word "teenager" entered the lexicon for the first time. Prior to this novel's original publication in 1942, scant attention had been given in popular literature to the lives of adolescents. "SEVENTEENTH SUMMER" was a best seller in its day and was ranked as one of the most read novels among American youth during the 1940s.
July 7, 2021
Oh Angie, my sweet summer child. You're so dumb, with your rules (ladies don't drink beer, which in WI is just LOL), your ignorance (read a magazine!), with your horniness that you do not understand, and your general lack of any understanding of anything.
Let's start. First, this novel was published in 1942. That doesn't mean it's set in 1942, but there is no mention of the war. If we're to assume the book is set earlier, that doesn't make sense either, because the dad is a (very successful) traveling salesman which wouldn't make sense during the Depression. There's even a reference to an abandoned WPA project! So the whole setting seems very strange. I feel like Jack would be shipped off to war after high school, not sailing around on a boat and romancing girls in the dark. Plus, it's set in Fond du Lac, WI, with mentions of Green Bay, Milwaukee, Campbellsport, Eagle River, "Minacqua," Sheboygan, and Rosendale (IYKYK). Angie apparently has no friends, other than the ones she makes over the three months that the story takes place. I mean--girl just graduated high school but has not a single friend to hang out with, or call, or meet for Cokes? That is weird. Angie's entire personality is "I like Jack" and wanting to be popular, or at least fit in. The latter isn't unusual, but Angie feels she fits in only when she is dating Jack.
Then there are the parents, who occasionally try to lay down rules but never follow through. They're so permissive! It's such a strange thing to remember that at one time, parents trusted their kids to be on their own. Margaret, the oldest, is industrious and engaged to Art (but curiously never ever mentions the wedding or plans for it) and has her act together. Then there's Lorraine, and the nicest thing I can say about her is that she is a college student. She's a mess. Then Angie, who rarely speaks--even to Jack--and is experiencing her first boyfriend and all the wonder that 17-year-old romances brings. Youngest daughter Kitty is usually left to her own devices. The dad barely registers as a character and the mom is like, sure, it's 9 p.m., go have fun with your BF at this random person's house in the woods! I don't know them or where you're going and won't ask about drinking or sex and won't give you a curfew! Have fun!
The whole novel felt like buildup to...nothing. Lorraine asks Angie if Angie and Jack ever "neck." Angie refuses to answer but it's very unclear to readers if they do. They seem to make out, but it's all very chaste and PG-rated and either Jack nor Angie seem comfortable with their horniness, let alone understand it enough to act on it. We're led to believe Lorraine has some big catastrophe, but really she's just a weirdo and strangely obsessed with Martin who anyone with 3 brain cells knows is cheating on her all over the place. Listen to your older sister, girl! We know best!
This family literally just sits around, rarely talking, trying to pass the time.
Here are some good things. I liked the scene with Jack at the Sunday dinner, because we idolize and put people on pedestals, only to be angry at them when they can't live up to our unrealistic expectations. When reality fails to match fantasy, we tend to lash out or feel acrimonious, and that section felt realistic. The exciting confusion of "will he call" and "what does he mean" and all that felt very authentic. I was so happy Angie didn't say "I love you too!" to Jack. She seems a little more realistic about the fate of their relationship than he does. She doesn't seem to be in love with Jack; rather, she's in love with having a boyfriend and feeling special and she's horny and obsessed. That's not love. But, good for Angie that she didn't abandon her plans for college or accept his marriage proposal or something foolish like that.
But the whole relationship is strange. It starts out of nowhere and the two of them only seem to talk to confirm plans--they don't seem to converse ever. She's weirdly more concerned about the lovely garden and loveliness of Lake Winnebago (seriously, no author has ever used a variation of "lovely" as much as MD in this novel) and how "clean" Jack looks. The other couple they are friends with seem to be heading towards marriage and come across as having been in some long-term relationship, when really they started dating a few months before Jack and Angie. The length of teen relationships in the '40s must be like dog years, I guess.
Poor Angie desperately needs Judy Blume.
I would have loved this book in high school. Now, I am so grateful that I didn't grow up in the '40s and have to adhere to the strange dating rituals described in this book. And I wonder if that is even close to adhering to social norms of the time, or if that's the character's childish and limited understanding of how "good" girls in relationships behave.
Oh--there are times when I forget that MD is a teen writing this book, but the dialogue is awful and the last paragraph is just cringe-inducing. It definitely needed to be workshopped a little more. (Okay fine, a LOT more.) Glad I read it but gee whiz, this was a lot of pages for nothing.
Let's start. First, this novel was published in 1942. That doesn't mean it's set in 1942, but there is no mention of the war. If we're to assume the book is set earlier, that doesn't make sense either, because the dad is a (very successful) traveling salesman which wouldn't make sense during the Depression. There's even a reference to an abandoned WPA project! So the whole setting seems very strange. I feel like Jack would be shipped off to war after high school, not sailing around on a boat and romancing girls in the dark. Plus, it's set in Fond du Lac, WI, with mentions of Green Bay, Milwaukee, Campbellsport, Eagle River, "Minacqua," Sheboygan, and Rosendale (IYKYK). Angie apparently has no friends, other than the ones she makes over the three months that the story takes place. I mean--girl just graduated high school but has not a single friend to hang out with, or call, or meet for Cokes? That is weird. Angie's entire personality is "I like Jack" and wanting to be popular, or at least fit in. The latter isn't unusual, but Angie feels she fits in only when she is dating Jack.
Then there are the parents, who occasionally try to lay down rules but never follow through. They're so permissive! It's such a strange thing to remember that at one time, parents trusted their kids to be on their own. Margaret, the oldest, is industrious and engaged to Art (but curiously never ever mentions the wedding or plans for it) and has her act together. Then there's Lorraine, and the nicest thing I can say about her is that she is a college student. She's a mess. Then Angie, who rarely speaks--even to Jack--and is experiencing her first boyfriend and all the wonder that 17-year-old romances brings. Youngest daughter Kitty is usually left to her own devices. The dad barely registers as a character and the mom is like, sure, it's 9 p.m., go have fun with your BF at this random person's house in the woods! I don't know them or where you're going and won't ask about drinking or sex and won't give you a curfew! Have fun!
The whole novel felt like buildup to...nothing. Lorraine asks Angie if Angie and Jack ever "neck." Angie refuses to answer but it's very unclear to readers if they do. They seem to make out, but it's all very chaste and PG-rated and either Jack nor Angie seem comfortable with their horniness, let alone understand it enough to act on it. We're led to believe Lorraine has some big catastrophe, but really she's just a weirdo and strangely obsessed with Martin who anyone with 3 brain cells knows is cheating on her all over the place. Listen to your older sister, girl! We know best!
This family literally just sits around, rarely talking, trying to pass the time.
Here are some good things. I liked the scene with Jack at the Sunday dinner, because we idolize and put people on pedestals, only to be angry at them when they can't live up to our unrealistic expectations. When reality fails to match fantasy, we tend to lash out or feel acrimonious, and that section felt realistic. The exciting confusion of "will he call" and "what does he mean" and all that felt very authentic. I was so happy Angie didn't say "I love you too!" to Jack. She seems a little more realistic about the fate of their relationship than he does. She doesn't seem to be in love with Jack; rather, she's in love with having a boyfriend and feeling special and she's horny and obsessed. That's not love. But, good for Angie that she didn't abandon her plans for college or accept his marriage proposal or something foolish like that.
But the whole relationship is strange. It starts out of nowhere and the two of them only seem to talk to confirm plans--they don't seem to converse ever. She's weirdly more concerned about the lovely garden and loveliness of Lake Winnebago (seriously, no author has ever used a variation of "lovely" as much as MD in this novel) and how "clean" Jack looks. The other couple they are friends with seem to be heading towards marriage and come across as having been in some long-term relationship, when really they started dating a few months before Jack and Angie. The length of teen relationships in the '40s must be like dog years, I guess.
Poor Angie desperately needs Judy Blume.
I would have loved this book in high school. Now, I am so grateful that I didn't grow up in the '40s and have to adhere to the strange dating rituals described in this book. And I wonder if that is even close to adhering to social norms of the time, or if that's the character's childish and limited understanding of how "good" girls in relationships behave.
Oh--there are times when I forget that MD is a teen writing this book, but the dialogue is awful and the last paragraph is just cringe-inducing. It definitely needed to be workshopped a little more. (Okay fine, a LOT more.) Glad I read it but gee whiz, this was a lot of pages for nothing.
September 25, 2011
When I picked this book up I assumed I'd be reading a cute YA summer read. In a way the book completely meets those expectations, but that wouldn't quite be the whole story.
From the cover you would assume that this is a contemporary story. The summary does really nothing to tell you anything different. Even the author's biography just mentions the fact that she was in college when she wrote the book, but curiously never mentions what she is doing now. It's only when you look at the copyright date you see that this was actually written in 1942, and after some internet research is considered by some to be the first modern YA book.
The book never comes out and says when everything is taking place. But even if you started reading without knowing, it would probably hit you, when you realize Angie's date, Jack, takes her on a date to a soda shop, where teens are able to order beers without anyone bating an eye. There are no cells phone or internet, instead Angie and her still all wind up waiting by the one phone in the house hoping that their boys will call. Not quite what you expect to see in a modern YA book, so hopefully even though the book is marketed without mentioning the time period, as a reader you would figure it out.
There do seem to be a lot of people complaining that the book is slow and hard to understand because it was written for a different time period. But I didn't find that to be the case, probably because I read a lot of historical fiction. Except while the book is historical, it wouldn't be considered historical fiction since it was written about the 1940s in the 1940s. There are things as a reader that the author assumes we'd know and aren't explained, whereas if it was written for today's reader we'd probably be receiving a little more detail, nor are there any specific historical events that place the book in a specific year. After all to Daly it wasn't history, it was just her life.
What I loved about this book is that even though it was over 70 years ago it still fells current. I can relate to Angie's feeling towards Jack, her sisters, and her feelings on leaving for college. It interesting to see while some things have changed (for instance, Angie taking a train to go to college versus an airplane now) so much has stayed the same.
But while I liked Angie's personally and thoughts she didn't seem to say much. Throughout almost all of her dates with Jack she never seemed to actually talk to him. It isn't till the end of the novel, when finally there seems to be some conversation between the two. I do think part of this could be again when it was written, since in general girls weren't nearly as forward with guys as they are now.
The whole novel has an innocence about it. I don't just mean Angie herself, although she does come off as innocent. But more that looking back I know this story takes place on the brink of World War II. Except the story never once mentions that life is about it change for its characters. It isn't unusual considering a young woman in college in the early 1940s may not have known what was going in, and even if she did there's no way she could have known just what the war would bring. But I can't help but wonder and be worried about what happens for these characters. And if anything I only wish I had a little more closure and knew exactly what the future held for Angie and Jack.
From the cover you would assume that this is a contemporary story. The summary does really nothing to tell you anything different. Even the author's biography just mentions the fact that she was in college when she wrote the book, but curiously never mentions what she is doing now. It's only when you look at the copyright date you see that this was actually written in 1942, and after some internet research is considered by some to be the first modern YA book.
The book never comes out and says when everything is taking place. But even if you started reading without knowing, it would probably hit you, when you realize Angie's date, Jack, takes her on a date to a soda shop, where teens are able to order beers without anyone bating an eye. There are no cells phone or internet, instead Angie and her still all wind up waiting by the one phone in the house hoping that their boys will call. Not quite what you expect to see in a modern YA book, so hopefully even though the book is marketed without mentioning the time period, as a reader you would figure it out.
There do seem to be a lot of people complaining that the book is slow and hard to understand because it was written for a different time period. But I didn't find that to be the case, probably because I read a lot of historical fiction. Except while the book is historical, it wouldn't be considered historical fiction since it was written about the 1940s in the 1940s. There are things as a reader that the author assumes we'd know and aren't explained, whereas if it was written for today's reader we'd probably be receiving a little more detail, nor are there any specific historical events that place the book in a specific year. After all to Daly it wasn't history, it was just her life.
What I loved about this book is that even though it was over 70 years ago it still fells current. I can relate to Angie's feeling towards Jack, her sisters, and her feelings on leaving for college. It interesting to see while some things have changed (for instance, Angie taking a train to go to college versus an airplane now) so much has stayed the same.
But while I liked Angie's personally and thoughts she didn't seem to say much. Throughout almost all of her dates with Jack she never seemed to actually talk to him. It isn't till the end of the novel, when finally there seems to be some conversation between the two. I do think part of this could be again when it was written, since in general girls weren't nearly as forward with guys as they are now.
The whole novel has an innocence about it. I don't just mean Angie herself, although she does come off as innocent. But more that looking back I know this story takes place on the brink of World War II. Except the story never once mentions that life is about it change for its characters. It isn't unusual considering a young woman in college in the early 1940s may not have known what was going in, and even if she did there's no way she could have known just what the war would bring. But I can't help but wonder and be worried about what happens for these characters. And if anything I only wish I had a little more closure and knew exactly what the future held for Angie and Jack.
November 22, 2015
This and other reviews can be found on The Psychotic Nerd
MY THOUGHTS
This wasn't a bad book, but it is very slow-paced and, to be perfectly honest, nothing really happens.
This book was published in the 40's, so this book also takes place in the 40's. Just something you might want to know before starting this. Angie, our main character, has just graduated high school and this is her last summer before college. She ends up becoming infatuated with Jack, who's kind of a popular athlete in her town. They end up becoming a couple and have a full summer together, but will their relationship last? Or is this the only summer that they will have together?
This is a coming of age book through and through. The issue is: it's kind of dull. This book is very drawn out and nothing really happens. The romance didn't really help. I say romance lightly, because I don't really consider this a romance or a romance book. I didn't really see much of a romance, or chemistry between Jack and Angie. Even their conversations and dates seemed very dull and most of them (conversations especially) were skipped over or simply just recapped (this book was written as if Angie was telling you about her summer).
I also had issues with Angie. She seemed very judgmental and uppity at times. I don't know if this is just a way that people may have acted in the 40's (though I doubt it), or it's just the way Angie and her family were (her family was also like this). There's a scene where Jack is invited for dinner and they're all eating ice-cream. While Jack is eating, his spoon clicks against his teeth and the whole family basically acts like they found Satan at the table. Later, Angie even mentions to us how disgusted she is by this and even debates whether to stop seeing him just because of the way he ate his ice-cream. Seriously. And there are more moments like this, though not as big.
IN CONCLUSION
I know I keep bashing this book, but it wasn't that bad. I liked the setting and the overall summer feeling to this book. The author obviously was an amazing writer! I can also see why this book was a classic in it's day. It's a great coming of age book and it does show things about first loves, it just wasn't for me.
MY THOUGHTS
This wasn't a bad book, but it is very slow-paced and, to be perfectly honest, nothing really happens.
This book was published in the 40's, so this book also takes place in the 40's. Just something you might want to know before starting this. Angie, our main character, has just graduated high school and this is her last summer before college. She ends up becoming infatuated with Jack, who's kind of a popular athlete in her town. They end up becoming a couple and have a full summer together, but will their relationship last? Or is this the only summer that they will have together?
This is a coming of age book through and through. The issue is: it's kind of dull. This book is very drawn out and nothing really happens. The romance didn't really help. I say romance lightly, because I don't really consider this a romance or a romance book. I didn't really see much of a romance, or chemistry between Jack and Angie. Even their conversations and dates seemed very dull and most of them (conversations especially) were skipped over or simply just recapped (this book was written as if Angie was telling you about her summer).
I also had issues with Angie. She seemed very judgmental and uppity at times. I don't know if this is just a way that people may have acted in the 40's (though I doubt it), or it's just the way Angie and her family were (her family was also like this). There's a scene where Jack is invited for dinner and they're all eating ice-cream. While Jack is eating, his spoon clicks against his teeth and the whole family basically acts like they found Satan at the table. Later, Angie even mentions to us how disgusted she is by this and even debates whether to stop seeing him just because of the way he ate his ice-cream. Seriously. And there are more moments like this, though not as big.
IN CONCLUSION
I know I keep bashing this book, but it wasn't that bad. I liked the setting and the overall summer feeling to this book. The author obviously was an amazing writer! I can also see why this book was a classic in it's day. It's a great coming of age book and it does show things about first loves, it just wasn't for me.
June 4, 2013
Due to copy and paste, formatting has been lost.
For whatever reason, Seventeenth Summer was just a flat read for me. I didn't connect with the characters, and I really didn't see the romance in it.
Angie, our main character, is way too prim and proper. I couldn't relate to her in any way, and I often found myself wondering why she even bothered? She would say how disgusted she was with Jack's eating habits, or his family, and I don't understand why it matters? She's supposed to love him, right?
They fell in love way too fast. It was like an instantaneous "he sees me then we go on a date then we love each other" kind of thing. And it drove me crazy! I don't see how they could be in love so easily. Jack doesn't appear to be very into Angie at all, but as I mentioned before, they're "in love". But Jack is always running off to talk to someone else and making Angie feel awkward and out of place. Basically, I didn't feel emotion from either of their characters. It was a big mocha latte of flatness.
If that wasn't bad enough, I couldn't keep our secondary characters straight. They seemed to just pop out of random places and to be with different people often enough that it confused me. I couldn't figure out who Angie was related to, or who her friends were dating...I just couldn't.
All in all, Seventeenth Summer really fell flat for me, which is sad, because I was really expecting to like it.
May 22, 2012
"Until the summer before college, Angie Morrow didn't really date. Her mother didin't like her to go out much. But no one -- not even Angie's mother -- can resist the charm of strikingly handsome Jack Duluth. His good looks grab Angies's attention from the moment in June when Jack throws Angie a smile at McKight's drugstore. And on their first date sailing under the stars -- when Jack leans in and whispers to Angie, "You look nice with the wind in your hair," the strange new feeling s begin. Tingles, prickles, warmth: the tell-tale signs of romance. It's the beginning of an unforgettable summer for Angie, full of wonder, warmth, tears, challenge, and love.
Maureen Daly had created a love story so honest that it has withstood the test of time, winning new fans for more than six decades. Today, this classic is enjoyed by many who think of it as the quintessential love story, and as a glimpse of love in the 1940's; a refreshing alternative to modern love stories, reflecting the beauty and innocence of new love."
There are so many striking things about this book:
1) It is beautifully written
2) It is considered one of the only true "real" young adult novels because the author was a young adult when she started writing it
3) 1 and 2 can exist on the same plane (I'm looking at you, Paolini)
4) World War Two was taking place in the background on the novel, but it never is mentioned. No rations, the town is filled with young men, no mention of it in the radio or the news. Does this make it a type or realistic fantasy, or an accurate interpretation and representation of some sort of "teen haze" or memory cloud?
Maureen Daly had created a love story so honest that it has withstood the test of time, winning new fans for more than six decades. Today, this classic is enjoyed by many who think of it as the quintessential love story, and as a glimpse of love in the 1940's; a refreshing alternative to modern love stories, reflecting the beauty and innocence of new love."
There are so many striking things about this book:
1) It is beautifully written
2) It is considered one of the only true "real" young adult novels because the author was a young adult when she started writing it
3) 1 and 2 can exist on the same plane (I'm looking at you, Paolini)
4) World War Two was taking place in the background on the novel, but it never is mentioned. No rations, the town is filled with young men, no mention of it in the radio or the news. Does this make it a type or realistic fantasy, or an accurate interpretation and representation of some sort of "teen haze" or memory cloud?
January 22, 2016
This was a very endearing book. I loved taking a look at the past and experiencing young love. I went to college in Fond du Lac, WI where this story takes place so it was also fun to read about the small town. Throughout the book I thought of my maternal grandma. At the time of this book (early 1940s) she would have been about 10 years older than Angie, but the descriptions of the dinners they prepared, the gardening, and the games they played reminded me of her. Brought back some good memories of my times with her. It also brought me back to the summer between my senior year of high school and my freshman year of college. That was also the summer I first fell in love with the man that is now my husband. The excitement of a new relationship coupled with the nervousness of leaving home to go to college is very pronounced in this book as it was in my own life.
Teenagers today could really learn from this book. It shows how much has changed in our society, in dating, and in the way books are written. There is quite a bit of history to be learned. This book has such an innocence to it, which you don't find as much in books about young love today. I don't think all teenagers would enjoy it since it is not action packed nor does it have many details about the relationship between Angie and Jack. It is only told from Angie's perspective so you only get her feelings. There is quite a bit of description in the book, but it is mainly about the weather, nature, fashions, and feelings toward family and friends.
Overall I liked this book and think that others would enjoy it as well.
Teenagers today could really learn from this book. It shows how much has changed in our society, in dating, and in the way books are written. There is quite a bit of history to be learned. This book has such an innocence to it, which you don't find as much in books about young love today. I don't think all teenagers would enjoy it since it is not action packed nor does it have many details about the relationship between Angie and Jack. It is only told from Angie's perspective so you only get her feelings. There is quite a bit of description in the book, but it is mainly about the weather, nature, fashions, and feelings toward family and friends.
Overall I liked this book and think that others would enjoy it as well.
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