Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland
Published: Disney Hyperion (May 7th, 2013)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 304 pages
Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Summary:
For Cricket Thompson, a summer like this one will change everything. A summer spent on Nantucket with her best friend, Jules Clayton, and the indomitable Clayton family. A summer when she’ll make the almost unattainable Jay Logan hers. A summer to surpass all dreams.
Some of this turns out to be true. Some of it doesn’t.
When Jules and her family suffer a devastating tragedy that forces the girls apart, Jules becomes a stranger whom Cricket wonders whether she ever really knew. And instead of lying on the beach working on her caramel-colored tan, Cricket is making beds and cleaning bathrooms to support herself in paradise for the summer.
But it’s the things Cricket hadn’t counted on--most of all, falling hard for someone who should be completely off-limits--that turn her dreams into an exhilarating, bittersweet reality.
A beautiful future is within her grasp, and Cricket must find the grace to embrace it. If she does, her life could be the perfect shade of Nantucket blue.
Review:
This was such a fantastic story for so many reasons! Nantucket Blue really made me want to find a place just like Nantucket where I could be like Cricket and go exploring for the summer.
Cricket was wonderful. She was very much the typical teen but she grew so much during this story. In the beginning we learn that Cricket spends a lot of time with her best friend Jules and her family. She's sort of a permanent fixture in their lives, but not in a bad way. It's just the way things were. Then the Clayton family goes through a horrible loss and things change quickly.
Cricket had plans to spend the summer with Jules and her family in Nantucket. After the tragedy, Jules makes it clear that she doesn't want Cricket around. There were some times when I wanted Cricket to stand up for herself with Jules. Yes, Jules had a big reason to be sad but she didn't need to be so mean and heartless. I was happy to see that, after a while, Cricket is able to break free of that dependency and try things on her own.
Since Cricket doesn't really want to go home, she decides that she will still spend the summer there but she has to find a job. She works for a hotel and ends up making some great friends. As the story goes on, I really felt that Cricket was doing what was best for her. This summer journey was what she needed.
This isn't a book full of romance but I was very surprised at where the romance ended up being. It was very cute and sweet. I really love books like this. I'm a huge romance fan but this book carried enough of a plot that I didn't miss it not being there in the beginning. I highly recommend this book if you are looking for a feel-good summer book!
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