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Haunted Summer
On the night of April first, Marilla Marston drove the delivery truck into a newsboy on a bicycle; in the heavy fog, she didn't even know what she had hit until she got out and saw him. She carried him to the hospital, then fled in fright.
- GenresYoung AdultHorror
150 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
3 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Hope Dahle Jordan
10 books3 followersHope Dahle Jordan is a published author of children's books and young adult books. Some of the published credits of Hope Dahle Jordan include Haunted Summer.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 1, 2022
For several years starting in grade school and going through to junior high, I read all the books I could find that were about haunted... well, anythings. It must have been about 1986 when I bought this book based entirely on the title, though I'm not sure where I got a copy of it. Some of Hope Dahle Jordan's books were available through Scholastic when they were first published in the 1960s and early 1970s, so I have to assume this 1981 reprint was as well.
Haunted Summer is not about hauntings at all, but about a teenage girl who gets involved in a hit-and-run accident at the beginning of her summer vacation, and her struggle with the fallout. Despite it not being the ghostly tale I imagined, I found myself somewhat obsessed with it, in part because of a major plot point (which I won't give away) that didn't make much sense in 1986 but surely did when the book was first released in 1967.
Another reason I was obsessed is that, as I read it, I knew that this book had obviously been made into the 1979 ABC Afterschool Special "The Terrible Secret" starring Michael Biehn, which played in heavy rotation in reruns on summer weekends well into the 1980s. However, all these years later, I discovered the scriptwriter George Malko is the only writing credit on the movie. The 1981 paperback reprint of Haunted Summer (pictured here) was most likely released because of the special, since none of Jordan's other books were re-released after their first printings, but she is not credited on the special, and there is no substantial link I can find between the book and the show. I can't imagine blatant stealing would have gone unnoticed, so I assume that Hope Dahle Jordan is one of Malko's pen names.
Hope Dahle Jordan appears to have written several young adult thrillers and mysteries starring teen girl characters in the 1960s and early 1970s, and then disappeared. I recall reading her Supermarket Sleuth as well; it was the only book by Jordan my local library had, and I liked it as much as Haunted Summer. I wish more info about Jordan and her books was available.
Haunted Summer is not about hauntings at all, but about a teenage girl who gets involved in a hit-and-run accident at the beginning of her summer vacation, and her struggle with the fallout. Despite it not being the ghostly tale I imagined, I found myself somewhat obsessed with it, in part because of a major plot point (which I won't give away) that didn't make much sense in 1986 but surely did when the book was first released in 1967.
Another reason I was obsessed is that, as I read it, I knew that this book had obviously been made into the 1979 ABC Afterschool Special "The Terrible Secret" starring Michael Biehn, which played in heavy rotation in reruns on summer weekends well into the 1980s. However, all these years later, I discovered the scriptwriter George Malko is the only writing credit on the movie. The 1981 paperback reprint of Haunted Summer (pictured here) was most likely released because of the special, since none of Jordan's other books were re-released after their first printings, but she is not credited on the special, and there is no substantial link I can find between the book and the show. I can't imagine blatant stealing would have gone unnoticed, so I assume that Hope Dahle Jordan is one of Malko's pen names.
Hope Dahle Jordan appears to have written several young adult thrillers and mysteries starring teen girl characters in the 1960s and early 1970s, and then disappeared. I recall reading her Supermarket Sleuth as well; it was the only book by Jordan my local library had, and I liked it as much as Haunted Summer. I wish more info about Jordan and her books was available.
July 22, 2013
I have no idea how this book came to me, but it once belonged to someone named Tom C. in Room 4. Shades of elementary school days and the Scholastic Book order form rushed back to me. One must keep in mind that it was originally written in 1967. Back when girls were excluded from sports considered appropriate for boys only and many jobs were gender specific. So, it is interesting that the main character of this story is the only girl on the golf team (cuz who ever heard of a girl playing golf?!?) and she also has a job as a delivery "boy". I suppose, at the time, it was pretty ground breaking stuff. In that respect, this book is pretty dated. The main theme is one of owning up to your mistakes early and is a lesson in how not doing so can throw your life into a tailspin. A good lesson to learn early in life. Fairly well written. Probably best for an older, tween audience....that is if they can put down their iphone long enough.
January 20, 2026
Rounded up to three from 2.5 stars.
Originally written back in 1967 so a few dated references to how boys could get away with more girls.
Lots and lots of golf talk so be prepared.
There is also nothing to make this even suspenseful, so this isn't even anything close to being an early I Know What You Did Last Summer kind of story.
Told in first person, we get some backtracking by our lead character, Rilla Marston, to how we have gotten here. The local paper is telling how a young man brought in a boy from a hit and run accident to the hospital and then left.
It was Rilla with her short hair and her less than feminine clothing from her florist delivery job driving a beat-up old truck. It was a foggy night, and she didn't notice the local newspaper boy making his own late deliveries out on the long backwoods roads until she heard the thud.
Wrecked by guilt and haunted, Rilla sends every bit of money saved up for college to the boy's family to pay for a new bike and medical bills. She doesn't tell her father or stepmother or her stepsister or even her best friend next door, Seth.
Rilla reads the story updates in the local paper until they stop, works constantly to earn the money and spends the rest of her time golfing until graduation. It mostly is playing the waiting game to see just how long it will take Rilla to finally confess to the police.
There is drama between Rilla and her stepsister being jealous of each other for little odds and ends as well as the possibility that Seth's parents might be going through with a divorce. There is also a budding romance between Rilla and Seth.
Very tame and the ending cloudy with a chance of clear skies in the future.
Haunted Summer is not at all haunted.
Originally written back in 1967 so a few dated references to how boys could get away with more girls.
Lots and lots of golf talk so be prepared.
There is also nothing to make this even suspenseful, so this isn't even anything close to being an early I Know What You Did Last Summer kind of story.
Told in first person, we get some backtracking by our lead character, Rilla Marston, to how we have gotten here. The local paper is telling how a young man brought in a boy from a hit and run accident to the hospital and then left.
It was Rilla with her short hair and her less than feminine clothing from her florist delivery job driving a beat-up old truck. It was a foggy night, and she didn't notice the local newspaper boy making his own late deliveries out on the long backwoods roads until she heard the thud.
Wrecked by guilt and haunted, Rilla sends every bit of money saved up for college to the boy's family to pay for a new bike and medical bills. She doesn't tell her father or stepmother or her stepsister or even her best friend next door, Seth.
Rilla reads the story updates in the local paper until they stop, works constantly to earn the money and spends the rest of her time golfing until graduation. It mostly is playing the waiting game to see just how long it will take Rilla to finally confess to the police.
There is drama between Rilla and her stepsister being jealous of each other for little odds and ends as well as the possibility that Seth's parents might be going through with a divorce. There is also a budding romance between Rilla and Seth.
Very tame and the ending cloudy with a chance of clear skies in the future.
Haunted Summer is not at all haunted.
September 9, 2008
Wow, I guess not very many people have read this book! I read it about 15 years ago and just remembered the title today. It's about a girl who accidentally runs over a boy on a bike and takes him to the hospital . She doesn't tell anyone what happened or her name, so it is as if she did a hit-and-run. For me as a child reading it I thought it was very thought provoking. You should read this, even if it was written for children.
November 14, 2024
Kept wondering why everyone was like, 'a girl can't be a delivery boy/play golf/hit a kid with their car (or paneled van). Then, I looked at the date and I was like, 'Oh.'
Just think if she'd just let people make their sexist assumptions she totally would have gotten away with it!
Just think if she'd just let people make their sexist assumptions she totally would have gotten away with it!
October 14, 2024
So much golf talk in such a short story.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews