The Forget-Me-Not Summer
By Leila Howland
352 pages (Hardcover) – ages 9+
Published by HarperCollins on May 5, 2015
Synopsis- Marigold, 12, Zinnia, 11, and Lily, 5, are sisters. They have big plans for the summer. Lily is planning on being her very best [mischievous] five-year-old self, Marigold is trying to hook an acting agent and maybe get a boyfriend, and Lily will probably be Marigold’s second shadow. But when their movie script writing father is going to an out-of-the-way location to assist in the filming of a documentary on redwood trees, and their mother might have a job opportunity in Canada for a few weeks, all of their summer plans get shattered.
The girls will be flying cross-country to Massachusetts, to live with their Great-Aunt Sunny for a few weeks. She lives in a small house (with no TV!) in a small town, and they lived in L.A. Not only are they suffering from culture-shock, but they have to share a room! Will they survive this monstrosity?
What I Thought- Overall, this was a good book. I can understand that Marigold is a budding (no pun intended) child actress, but I don’t know if I like how obsessed she was with having a boyfriend. She’s 12 in the book. It was just weird. Zinnia was a great main character. She was funny, and had to cope with being the middle child of an actress big sister, and being what should be a perfect little sister. That was believable and it worked. The story was good, but seemed to take a back seat to the character development. It took a long time to get to know the characters. Still, there was a plot and it was realistic and fit well in the story (Zinnia needs to write a play and find a cast for her play by a deadline for a local talent show, Marigold wants to get in a movie, etc.). That was nice. All in all, my favorite character was Aunt Sunny. She was the awesome aunt living a simple, fun life in a small town. Plus, the book includes a recipe for the brownies she makes. 🙂
I give this book four out of five bookworms.
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Categories: Age 9+
YO, donut writing budding!! Your reviews are always SPOT ON! I trust them. Wait. Wha? Did you say brownies?? I’m in. 🙂 So. The character development was slow. Hmm. I’ll check it out.
It’s a good book. While the development was slow, it was definitely strong. 🙂
I like the cover, but I miss the beach too! I’d like to check this one out too (weakness for flower names!).
It’s a good story. 🙂
Books about sisters are often fun. I like their names too. 12 is a bit young to want a boyfriend, but girls do have crushes at that age. The Aunt sounds real cool!!
I don’t mind reading about characters with crushes (not that I prefer it), but it was kind of weird how much she stressed about having a boyfriend.
And, yes, the aunt sounded awesome! 🙂
Your review made me chuckle. I agree with Darlene, some girls are interested in boys at that age. I liked the aunt as she really sounded awesome.
Thank you Mrs. Tilton. I am fine with the girl having a crush, but not so much on how much she obsessed over getting a boyfriend.
I think girls of that age can be totally obsessed with finding boyfriends (which is why I don’t write for that age-group). Having a boyfriend is all about self-image and self-esteem. It is a difficult age and full of issues and obsessions for many girls! I think it’s a shame that some girls need a boyfriend that desperately to feel special. Perhaps the underlying psychology wasn’t tackled so as to make the reason the character needed a boyfriend so badly, obvious.
Good point. 🙂