April 8, 2013
Readers looking for light romance will enjoy Colasanti’s (Keep Holding On) depiction of a long-distance relationship that beats the odds, even before it’s officially a relationship. After meeting on the beach, Skye, a privileged high-school student, and Seth, a recent graduate whose father owns a failing roller rink, fall head-over-heels in love, but they part unexpectedly before exchanging contact information. A torturous year of separation ends with a reunion on the same beach, and it appears that distance has made the couple’s hearts grow fonder. They immediately make plans to visit each other on weekends while Seth attends college in Philadelphia. What follows is a fairly predictable account of tested passion as Skye and Seth overcome hurdles to stay together. Although the two characters are well-defined, what they have in common is as vague as their understanding of each other. Seth never unloads the emotional baggage he carries about his parents’ separation and his fears about his own future, while Skye remains preoccupied with concerns about her friends throughout most of the novel. Ages 12–up.
April 15, 2013
An unlikely young couple finds true love during summer break--but can it withstand their different lives? Skye spends her summers vacationing on the Jersey Shore in her family's large beach house, positive that nothing interesting will ever happen. Unexpectedly, she meets Seth at a party on the last night of the summer, and the chemistry is immediate and intense. A plan to exchange contact information goes awry, and they part not knowing how to find each other. Fate reunites the couple the next summer, and they decide to make their relationship work. Well-to-do Skye and Seth, a boy of lesser means, must find common ground despite their very different lives: Seth worries endlessly about money and paying for his Ivy League education, while Skye is still working through high school dramas. As Seth and Skye feel their way through the trials and tribulations of young love, the world marches on around them, and the two of them shakily navigate how to find their place together in it. Romantic and swooning plotlines filled with chance encounters soon dissipate into the real-life logistics of making a relationship work. Readers shouldn't fret: The romance ramps back up to a swelling crescendo, sure to leave enthusiasts sighing and reaffirmed about the power of true love. Grab your blankets and sunscreen now: This is an ideal summer beach book. (Romance. 13 & up)
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July 1, 2013
Gr 9 Up-Skye is hopeful that this will be the summer she finally meets the boy of her dreams at the beach-but when she does, he leaves before they have a chance to exchange contact information. It's the following summer before they reconnect, and, once they do, they know they are meant to be. It's not an easy relationship, with Seth working his way through college and Skye finishing high school, but true love will find a way. Skye and Seth tell their story in alternating chapters, introducing friends and families who remain in the background instead of becoming full characters. Drama with Skye's friends and Seth's ex-girlfriend pads out the story and contributes to the only real tension in the book. The time line moves quickly, covering nearly three years and giving readers more of an overview of the relationship than a real sense of depth. This title will excite established Colasanti fans, but it is unlikely to win over new readers.-Brandy Danner, Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, MA
Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
June 1, 2013
Skye is in love with love. All the affluent high-school sophomore needs, when she summers at the shore, is sand, snow cones, and true romance. At the last party of the season, she meets Seth, who comes from a less wealthy family and is heading to college, but they catch only each other's first names. Over the following drama-filled year, both wonder if they will ever rekindle their initial attraction. Chapters that alternate between Skye's and Seth's first-person accounts feature a cast of best friends, roommates, wingmen, and an increasingly greater economic divide between the star-crossed teens. True-believing young readers need not worry whether love conquers all, though, and Colasanti brings a sweet resolution for her characters, who find all they need.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)
July 1, 2013
When Seth and Skye meet at the beach, it's love at first sight. But before they can exchange contact information, Seth leaves town, and they spend the next year pining for each other. Luckily, they reconnect and things are perfect--until the reality of a long-distance relationship sets in. Yet they never lose hope in this idealized, romantic look at young love.
(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)