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3.31 AVERAGE
3.31 AVERAGE
Nell and Lydia have big plans for the summer, spending all their time together like best friends do/should. All of this changes when Lydia's mom forbids the girls to see each other because of something Nell's mom did to her. The girls plot and plan ways to still see each other, and end up climbing the fence of a nearby abandoned golf course and setting up bedrooms in a couple of the mini-golf structures, where they spend their summer days. When they discover a homeless family also living there, their priorities start to shift and their friendship starts to hit rocky ground. Lydia struggles with wanting to live at Lodema full time because of her mostly absent mom, and Nell is ready to go home full time.
A sweet story about friendship and the growing pains it can go through. While I shelved this as middle school, I would certainly move it to the lower end of that range, maybe even 5th grade.
A sweet story about friendship and the growing pains it can go through. While I shelved this as middle school, I would certainly move it to the lower end of that range, maybe even 5th grade.
3.5 stars.
I'm really glad I read this. The main characters are not yet 13 yet are very wise and driven to embrace independence. Nell and Lydia both suffer from issues with their moms -- Nell feels like her mom never wants her and is constantly dealing with her mood swings, and Lydia's mom puts on a pretty performance but leaves her daughter to her own devices most of the time. Before the summer, Lydia's mom tells Lydia she has to stop seeing Nell so much because of something Nell's mom did to her. The girls are angry about this, and fight back -- they deceive their moms, and claim an abandoned golf course as their hangout of the summer. Spend long summer days together exploring, Nell and Lydia's friendship is tested in surprising ways -- learning they importance of widening their circles but also just how much they mean to one another. It's heartbreaking, non-fluffy tale filled with beautiful descriptions of light and fireflies and nature. (The book is set in Birmingham.) Also an ode to friendships that feel like home.
I'm really glad I read this. The main characters are not yet 13 yet are very wise and driven to embrace independence. Nell and Lydia both suffer from issues with their moms -- Nell feels like her mom never wants her and is constantly dealing with her mood swings, and Lydia's mom puts on a pretty performance but leaves her daughter to her own devices most of the time. Before the summer, Lydia's mom tells Lydia she has to stop seeing Nell so much because of something Nell's mom did to her. The girls are angry about this, and fight back -- they deceive their moms, and claim an abandoned golf course as their hangout of the summer. Spend long summer days together exploring, Nell and Lydia's friendship is tested in surprising ways -- learning they importance of widening their circles but also just how much they mean to one another. It's heartbreaking, non-fluffy tale filled with beautiful descriptions of light and fireflies and nature. (The book is set in Birmingham.) Also an ode to friendships that feel like home.
pretty sure I was transported to another world while reading The Hidden Summer.
so many thanks to Mrs. Phillips!
so many thanks to Mrs. Phillips!
Family. Self. And how they both exist. Of course with a little help from friends, old and new.
slow-paced
Nell and Lydia have been best friends for a long time but when their moms get into an argument Lydia's mom tells her she doesn't want them to be friends anymore. Both have difficult home lives - Nell's mom is unstable and prone to fits of anger and Lydia's dad is absent a lot and her mom is too worried about appearances. Nell comes up with a plan for them to fool their moms and allow them to spend the summer together at an abandoned golf course.
Things start out idyllically but when they discover a homeless family living at the golf course too things change. Nell makes new friends and Lydia feels left out. Can their friendship survive this hidden summer.
What I liked about the book was that it didn't magically end happily ever after. There are a lot of loose ends and that is okay. Life isn't always tied up in a bow. But there is hope....
Ribbit...
Things start out idyllically but when they discover a homeless family living at the golf course too things change. Nell makes new friends and Lydia feels left out. Can their friendship survive this hidden summer.
What I liked about the book was that it didn't magically end happily ever after. There are a lot of loose ends and that is okay. Life isn't always tied up in a bow. But there is hope....
Ribbit...
The style in this book is lovely and vivid, evoking summer memories and youth. Nell is wise for her age, very calm, and yearning for something more than the heavy, nervous atmosphere of home, where her immature, volatile mother makes Nell feel like she's constantly walking on eggshells. But she's been forbidden from visiting her best friend and next door neighbor Lydia, thanks to Lydia's mother (likely rightfully) feeling that Nell's mother is a bad influence.
So the girls devise a plan. Really, it's Nell's plan, and Lydia is just along for the ride. They hop the fence behind their houses and spend their summer in the abandoned mini puttputt course, which is magical and strange. And here, Nell makes more connections, and the bond between Lydia and Nell begins to change.
So the girls devise a plan. Really, it's Nell's plan, and Lydia is just along for the ride. They hop the fence behind their houses and spend their summer in the abandoned mini puttputt course, which is magical and strange. And here, Nell makes more connections, and the bond between Lydia and Nell begins to change.
Both Nell and Lydia are poorly supervised tweens that concoct a plan to live at an abandoned golf course over the summer. And of course their parents believe their crazy plans, such as straight A student Nell is in a 24 hour summer school over the Fourth of July. That would even raise the eyebrows of neglectful parents. But that keeps the plot going, I guess.
Nell is enamored with the golf course; Lydia is much less so. We never really hear much about Lydia; the reader just gets the vibe that she's going along with Nell's scheme.
The message of the story is good - that you have two families: the one you're born into and the one that you make.
Nell is enamored with the golf course; Lydia is much less so. We never really hear much about Lydia; the reader just gets the vibe that she's going along with Nell's scheme.
The message of the story is good - that you have two families: the one you're born into and the one that you make.
A realistic portrayal of a girl struggling to find her identity at the critical age of thirteen - when you aren't quite a teen but not quite a child. Lydia is her best friend and refuge from a mother with mental health issues and an irresponsible, often disconnected father. When Lydia's mother says they can't see each other any more, Nell and Lydia find a secret place in an abandoned golf course where they can spend the summer together. This book touches on a lot of major themes: growing up, choosing family, self-esteem, homelessness, and the appeal of having a secret place where you can be yourself.