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Cruel Summer: An Eras Journey
Summer is great.
Until the Taylor Swift tickets are fake.
Join tenacious teen Georgie on her journey to find the biggest ticket of summer.
At first
Georgie finds herself caught between having the best summer ever or earning Taylor The Eras Tour tickets from her Aunt Gwen. When unexpected events change everything, she must learn to stare directly in the mirror and discover the power of courage, independence, and bravery. This heartwarming novel explores young girl's coming of age intertwined with self-discovery, love, and friendship, making it a must-read for tweens age 9 to 13 and Swifties everywhere.
Good to
First-person point of viewComing of ageSelf discoveryMultiple viewpointsProblem solvingYouthful narrative
Why they love
"At its core, Cruel Summer is a story about growing up, learning to navigate the challenges of friendships, and understanding the importance of family. Georgie’s relationships with her parents and siblings are tenderly explored, showing that family, like friendships, can be both a source of frustration and unconditional love. Overall, Cruel Summer is a heartwarming and entertaining read for tween Swifties. With its relatable characters, engaging plot, and delightful Swift references, it’s a book that will leave readers smiling—and maybe even singing—long after they’ve turned the last page." – [Renee Hayes, Renee Hayes Books]
“Cruel Summer is a heartwarming tween novel that hits all the right notes. It explores the complexities of friendship, family, and personal growth, all set against the backdrop of a Taylor Swift-themed summer... The author’s ability to create a perfect mix of teenage drama, humor, and heartfelt moments, sprinkled with plenty of Taylor Swift references, makes Cruel Summer a relatable and fun read, especially for those Swifties learning to navigate the ups and downs of growing up.” — [Liz Willis, Behavior Analyst]
Georgie Olena Gardner is hellbent on having the best summer ever with her three best friends. She’s created a summer calendar for them that is full of prom events, graduation parties, and trips down the shore. But no event is as important as the Taylor The Eras Tour. As a genuine Swiftie, Georgie knows she is one of the lucky ones with tickets and cannot wait to attend Taylor Swift’s concert with her best friends. It will the pinnacle event of summer.
Tragedy strikes when Georgie finds out that her Taylor Swift tickets are fake. She cries to anyone that will listen. Unfortunately only her dog, Fearless is willing to comfort her. Georgie knows she needs to find a way to get a new set of tickets and turn her summer around.
Enter Georgie’s Aunt Gwen. She has tickets to Taylor The Eras Tour and a plan of her if Georgie can complete her six tasks then she will get to go to the concert of the century.
Georgie agrees to the terms and her cruel summer begins.
Until the Taylor Swift tickets are fake.
Join tenacious teen Georgie on her journey to find the biggest ticket of summer.
At first
Georgie finds herself caught between having the best summer ever or earning Taylor The Eras Tour tickets from her Aunt Gwen. When unexpected events change everything, she must learn to stare directly in the mirror and discover the power of courage, independence, and bravery. This heartwarming novel explores young girl's coming of age intertwined with self-discovery, love, and friendship, making it a must-read for tweens age 9 to 13 and Swifties everywhere.
Good to
First-person point of viewComing of ageSelf discoveryMultiple viewpointsProblem solvingYouthful narrative
Why they love
"At its core, Cruel Summer is a story about growing up, learning to navigate the challenges of friendships, and understanding the importance of family. Georgie’s relationships with her parents and siblings are tenderly explored, showing that family, like friendships, can be both a source of frustration and unconditional love. Overall, Cruel Summer is a heartwarming and entertaining read for tween Swifties. With its relatable characters, engaging plot, and delightful Swift references, it’s a book that will leave readers smiling—and maybe even singing—long after they’ve turned the last page." – [Renee Hayes, Renee Hayes Books]
“Cruel Summer is a heartwarming tween novel that hits all the right notes. It explores the complexities of friendship, family, and personal growth, all set against the backdrop of a Taylor Swift-themed summer... The author’s ability to create a perfect mix of teenage drama, humor, and heartfelt moments, sprinkled with plenty of Taylor Swift references, makes Cruel Summer a relatable and fun read, especially for those Swifties learning to navigate the ups and downs of growing up.” — [Liz Willis, Behavior Analyst]
Georgie Olena Gardner is hellbent on having the best summer ever with her three best friends. She’s created a summer calendar for them that is full of prom events, graduation parties, and trips down the shore. But no event is as important as the Taylor The Eras Tour. As a genuine Swiftie, Georgie knows she is one of the lucky ones with tickets and cannot wait to attend Taylor Swift’s concert with her best friends. It will the pinnacle event of summer.
Tragedy strikes when Georgie finds out that her Taylor Swift tickets are fake. She cries to anyone that will listen. Unfortunately only her dog, Fearless is willing to comfort her. Georgie knows she needs to find a way to get a new set of tickets and turn her summer around.
Enter Georgie’s Aunt Gwen. She has tickets to Taylor The Eras Tour and a plan of her if Georgie can complete her six tasks then she will get to go to the concert of the century.
Georgie agrees to the terms and her cruel summer begins.
226 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 20, 2024
About the author
April-Chrystal Helen Holmes
3 books2 followersIt's enchanting to meet you!
Jersey girl born and raised, April-Chrystal defines herself as a storyteller; from a young age, she was drawn to the creative life with a big imagination and countless stories to tell. Now she’s writing down her stories to share with you, starting with Cruel Summer.
April-Chrystal received her master’s degree in history from William Paterson University and her bachelor’s degree from The College of New Jersey. Her major was in communication studies with minors in marketing and graphic design. While attending undergrad, she studied abroad at the University of Sydney. She also holds 30 credits of coursework in psychology from Drexel University.
April-Chrystal loves her home in Morristown, New Jersey surrounded by family and friends. She is obsessed with her cairn terrier (just like the Wizard of Oz’s Toto), Susie. When time allows, April-Chrystal enjoys exploration, both near and far, playing field hockey, knitting, and reading.
Jersey girl born and raised, April-Chrystal defines herself as a storyteller; from a young age, she was drawn to the creative life with a big imagination and countless stories to tell. Now she’s writing down her stories to share with you, starting with Cruel Summer.
April-Chrystal received her master’s degree in history from William Paterson University and her bachelor’s degree from The College of New Jersey. Her major was in communication studies with minors in marketing and graphic design. While attending undergrad, she studied abroad at the University of Sydney. She also holds 30 credits of coursework in psychology from Drexel University.
April-Chrystal loves her home in Morristown, New Jersey surrounded by family and friends. She is obsessed with her cairn terrier (just like the Wizard of Oz’s Toto), Susie. When time allows, April-Chrystal enjoys exploration, both near and far, playing field hockey, knitting, and reading.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
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July 2, 2025There are definitely a lot of important themes in here that would be good for any tween reader! I do think there was some age confusion going on throughout: this is “geared for tweens”, and the characterization and writing absolutely fit that middle grade audience in my opinion, but Georgie graduates and deals with college conflict in the novel and that felt off a lot of the time. Her character (and all of her friends) certainly *acted* like tweens, not high schoolers. So then the college drama, graduation, driving, and “gap year” discussions felt confusing. All of the friendship conflicts were also wrapped up extremely neat and tidy with (literally) a simple deleted group chat. The important themes were still there, but it didn’t seem very realistic for an implosion of lifelong friendships. I also *really* did not understand the entire “boyfriend” chapter (he literally did not have a name…only….”my boyfriend”). That was extremely random, made zero sense, and shouldn’t have been included. It added nothing but a weird starting vibe. But, like I said, a ton of good middle grade themes and it was jam packed with Taylor allusions- pretty fun noting them all while reading!
January 23, 2025
I picked up this book and ended up reading it over the course of two evenings, it was excellent and I couldn't put it down! I'm a proud swiftie in her (late) 20s and felt like the book had many similarities to the ERAS tour. The tour was about Taylor Swift (duh) but more importantly was about the incredible memories I made with my friends and the way I felt during/after the concert (empowered, supported and part of something bigger than myself). This book I felt had very similar themes and described well the experience of being a young woman trying to find her way, discover what it means to be a good person and to earn self confidence. I highly recommend this to all women and especially young teens! And of course I loved the many taylor references along the way. Can't wait for this author's next project!
September 10, 2025
Picked this up and finished it in one night! Loved all of the Taylor Swift references - it made reading this book so much fun. This is a great story of finding yourself, being authentically you, and not letting the thought and opinions of others decide your future. Definitely recommend this book to any young adult (swiftie or not!) growing up and navigating life as there are so many important themes throughout!
November 28, 2024
For middle grades readers who love Taylor Swift, this is a cute book! I think the writing could have been a bit stronger at times, but there are important themes here about friendship, family, and more that each student can benefit from.
January 11, 2026
Read this as part of our mother-daughter (who is also a Swiftie) book club series. Cute. Good lessons for tweens about appreciating your family, surrounding yourself by people who let your light shine, and being true to yourself.
January 13, 2026
I loved this book! It was hard to put it down. Although, has a major swiftie, there were a few minor historical inaccuracies 🫢😅 but it brought back so many wonderful memories of my eras Summner. I’d read it again!
October 27, 2025
A cute cheesy read but this would be good for any swiftie to read!
June 17, 2025
It was very good and emotional and really made me want to go to the eras tour. If you're a Swifty, I definitely recommend you read this book.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews