Summer Sisters

It has been many years since I've picked up a Judy Blume novel. The last of hers I read was long before getting my period was even a glimmer in the old Man's eye, and such subject matters made me uncomfortably curious. Even as an adult a year out from delivering my own baby girl, Judy Blume novels still have the same effect on me. Also similarly, I discovered they're impossible to put down, and once you do, you're sorry that it's over.

Summer Sisters made me fall in love with Judy Blume all over again. I don't know how she does it, but she is able to caption adolescent better than a psychologist; and kudos to her for embracing emotions and certain rites of passage we'd rather forget. The story begins at the moment we wish it were over - the awkward tween years where it seems almost impossible to make and keep friends. Hopelessly insecure Vix - Victoria - is invited to spend the summer with Caitlin, a girl whom Vix hasn't really spoken in great length given their habitation of very different social and socioeconomic circles. Thanks to an overly busy mother and generally apathetic father, Vix is given permission to spend the summer with Caitlin on Martha's Vineyard.

Caitlin is the charismatic, always gorgeous, popular girl us normal girls wanted more than anything to emulate. Even better, we wanted the Caitlin girls to be our friend, so we find ourselves just a wee bit jealous of Vix. Caitlin is just itching to meet someone who "gets it." Vix doesn't know what that is and is too afraid to ask; thus begins a long and tumultuous, yet deep and profound, seemingly impossible friendship.

We are rarely shown a glimpse of the world that occupies Vix's non-summer time; since Vix and Caitlin's relationship is rooted in the sandy beach, that is where the bulk of the story takes place. It isn't anything out of the ordinary - popular girl takes unpopular girl under her wing, takes advantage of their friendship and Vix's compassion, but manages to exhibit small flickers of friendship, which navigates through school troubles, friend issues, summer romances, and very different views of a successful future. But even though Vix is mousy, quiet, and never actually does "get it," she's tough, spirited, determined, and doesn't seem to pay any mind to what anyone besides Caitlin thinks of her.

With their differing personalities, Caitlin and Vix grab hold of their futures, while accepting the gradual emotional distance that comes with an aging friendship. And despite the quintessential best friend betrayal, they are there for each other as they figure out adult life, one without a guaranteed summer trip to the Vineyard.

The end is quite shocking, not what you'd get in any of Blume's teen novels. So, by the end, your guilty pleasure doesn't feel so guilty anymore, but - as always - you're saddened to read the very last page.