It’s 1985 in a small town in New Jersey, a time when kids spent the summer swimming or wandering in the woods; a simpler era when parents weren’t so worried about what could happen that children had to always be supervised.
Bee and Audrina are sisters. Bee, the older, is a straight A student and spends time riding her bike. She’s not really a tomboy, but since Audrina inherited the family beauty she feels she has to do something to validate her identity. Audrina is confident and a bit self-centered. She’s the girly one, dressing up and sneaking in to use her mother’s makeup.
The summer progresses normally until the sisters along with Max and his sister Sally go swimming at the lake. Sally, four-and-a-half, is wading in the shallow water while the older children swim, so no one notices she’s missing. The search ends in tragedy when Sally’s body is found in the woods.
Years pass with more growing pains and the tragedy of Audrina’s diabetes. It’s and emotional story of coming of age that’s easy to relate to, particularly those of us who grew up in the eighties or earlier. The author describes the time period perfectly. It made me nostalgic for a simpler time.
The characters in the book are well developed. I could relate to Bee and her struggles with being the plain, smart one. The pace is rather slow in the beginning keeping with the slower pace of life in a 1980’s summer. However, it picks up once Sally goes missing.
I received the book from Dutton for this review.
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