oyceter. Dessen, Sarah - That Summer

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Haven's life is changing in all sorts of unpleasant ways -- her father divorced her mother and is now marrying the local weather lady, her formerly wild sister Ashley is getting married to the staid Lewis, and she keeps growing taller.

She can't help but wish that life were more like it was when Ashley was dating Sumner, the one boyfriend of Ashley's that made her laugh.

I think this is Dessen's first book. It's interesting reading this after I've read a lot of her others, largely because it seems like such a standard Dessen book. There's the first-person POV, the teenage heroine who is unsure of herself and her place in the world, the quirky boy who makes her laugh, the wilder older sister she feels she has to live up to, the somewhat uneasy relationship with her mother, the distant relationship with her father.

And yet, it doesn't feel cliched.

Also, because I've read her other books, the ending of this one was a complete surprise to me, and I liked how it worked to tie Haven and Ashley together.

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rilina's review (spoilers)

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