Fiction | Book Chatter

Perennials
By Mandy Berman
Random House, Hardcover, 9780399589317, June 6, 2017, 288pp.

The Short of It:

You know that nostalgic feeling you get when looking at an old Polaroid photo? That’s how I felt while reading this book. Youth captured in a snapshot.

The Rest of It:

As kids, Rachel and Fiona spent many wonderful summers at Camp Marigold. Eight glorious weeks of swimming, riding horses and making new friends. Things at home could change, but once they returned to camp, everything fell back into place and all was good with the world. In Perennials, Rachel and Fiona return to camp as counselors and with them is Fiona’s younger sister, Helen who is about to experience camp as they once did many years ago.

Summer camp. Sigh. When I was a kid, I read a lot of books about summer camp and they really had me longing for that experience. It wasn’t until last summer that I actually attended camp (as a leader) and although I wasn’t there as a camper, it was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. In this novel, Berman beautifully captures all the angst and anxiety of pre-teens but she somehow manages to capture the doubts and worries of the young adult counselors as well.

This book is summer, but it’s also life and love and friendship and all the not-so-pleasant stuff that comes with it. There’s a little more “action” between the campers and counselors than I would have liked to see. I am not a prude but since I work with teens and have teens of my own, I was a little sensitive to some parts of the story but at the same time I am far from naive. That said, anyone who is sensitive to language or sexual content may want to think twice before handing the book over to your teen. It’s not marketed as YA but from the cover you might think so.

In the end, I thought it was pretty well done. The final pages were especially poignant and frankly had me all choked-up. Perennials is Berman’s first novel and I look forward to what she writes next.

Source: Purchased
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

The Gypsy Moth Summer
By Julia Fierro
St. Martin’s Press, Hardcover, 9781250087515, June 6, 2017, 400pp.

The Short of It:

The inhabitants of Avalon island are trapped between the here and now and what the future holds for them during one of the worst moth infestations to ever hit the island.

The Rest of It:

The story starts off innocent enough. Jules and Leslie return to the island of Avalon with dreams of restoring her family home, known by all the locals as The Castle. While living in the cottage guest house, Jules is at first unsure of the move. Is this island ready to accept an interracial marriage, no questions asked? Jules is willing to find out when he discovers the beautiful gardens attached to The Castle.

Also on the island is Maddie and her rag-tag group of friends led by Bitsy, every bit as horrible as her name implies. Maddie is constantly measuring herself against her peers. Is she pretty enough? Smart enough? Cool enough? The pressure to fit in forces her to experiment even though in her head she knows it could end with disastrous results. But then Maddie meets Brooks, the son of Leslie and Jules. Brooks is like no other boy she’s met before but will their relationship be accepted by her friends? His family? Hers?

This is not the first time I’ve read a Fierro novel. Her first novel Cutting Teeth impressed me with its raw, brutal look at “adulting” before “adulting” was even a word. In The Gypsy Moth Summer, there is a lot of racial and class tension as these island inhabitants are thrown together while the destructive Gypsy moths devour trees to the point that their chomping can actually be heard.

This constant battle of life vs. death, creation vs. destruction, love vs. hate wears these characters down and the end result is a tightly wound novel full of dysfunction (my favorite thing). It’s not shiny and pretty to look at. It’s not sandy beaches and blue, blue water but it’s a little gritty and there’s heat between some of these characters which makes it a little racy at the same time. I loved how Fierro included facts about the Gypsy moth in the story and of course these life cycle inclusions could easily be compared to the island’s inhabitants as they go about their lives.

If you haven’t read a book by this author yet, DO give her a try. She has a knack for peeling back the layers and you know me, I love a little depth in my summer reads. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

Julia Fierro

For more information on the author, click here.

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION

This giveaway is for one copy of The Gypsy Moth Summer and is open to the US and Canada. A winner will be chosen randomly by me. The book will come directly from the publisher/tour coordinator. Only one entry per person. Giveaway closes on July 2, 2017 (pacific). I will contact the winner for his/her mailing address.