Fifteen-year-old Chelsea always spends her summer at the lake with her parents, her two older sisters, and her grandmother, Granly. Now that Granly has passed away, everything seems different, and Chelsea herself feels older and more worldly. Contributing to this feeling are her new job waiting tables, and Josh, the boy at the new local bookshop who seems to like her, even when her red hair is a frizzy mess and she acts awkwardly every time he speaks to her. As her first summer without Granly wears on, Chelsea falls in love for the first time, and does her best not to let the inevitable end of summer bring her down.
While I liked Sixteenth Summer, Michelle Dalton’s first summer romance novel, Fifteenth Summer is definitely the better of the two books. This time, while the romance is still the main plot, the protagonist is much more well-rounded, with interests, a family, a job, and a more innocent outlook on her new budding relationship. I found it easy to connect with all of the characters, not just the romantic players and I could even visualize the businesses and homes surrounding the lake as though I were visiting them myself. Particularly memorable is Dog Ear, the perfectly named bookstore which Josh’s parents own. I wish it were real!
Unlike some YA romance novels that create unrealistic expectations or just inaccurately represent the innocence of first love, this book does a great job of portraying characters who are authentically fifteen years old, and it doesn’t cram more physical contact or sexual innuendo into the relationship than would naturally occur between real teens. There is a lot of kissing, but it is mostly very innocent, and I think girls with true love on the brain will see Chelsea’s romance with Josh as something they want for themselves and could possibly attain. Readers will also enjoy Chelsea’s interactions with her sisters, and the family’s “Gatsby night” tradition, where they eat ridiculously fancy food on the beach. The ending felt a little abrupt to me, especially after the slow pace of the rest of the novel, but otherwise, it’s a great read filled with beautiful description and lots of real emotion.
Fifteenth Summer will appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen, Niki Burnham, and Deb Caletti. Though it could capture a high school audience, it seems more likely to find fans among middle school girls who are waiting to find their own summer loves.
I borrowed Fifteenth Summer from my local public library.
For more about this book, visit Goodreads and Worldcat.
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