For my realistic fiction book talk, I read “The Summer I Turned Pretty” by Jenny Han. I read this book because it was recommended to me by a friend, and by the summary presented in the novel, it seemed very interesting to me. The realistic setting in this story takes place in the contemporary time period, at the beach house at Cousins Beach, Rhode Island. The main character is Isabel (Belly) Conklin, a 16 year old girl who just wants to have a perfect summer with the least drama as possible.
The main conflict occurs when many guys come between Belly’s feelings and she doesn’t know which one she will have feelings for because she sees them all as great people. Jeremiah Fisher is the son of Susannah Fisher (Belly’s mom’s best friend). Jeremiah and Belly always share laughs together at the beach and house, but he likes Belly. Also, Conrad Fisher is another one of Susannah’s sons. He is the one person Belly has always had feelings for, but doesn’t always respond to people in a sincere way because he is rebellious and stubborn.
Cam, is a very smart guy who knows about his future and has plans for himself. Belly and Cam have a good relationship going on throughout the summer. The main character is Isabel (Belly) Conklin is very dramatic, determined, and caring throughout the whole novel. For example, she was very dramatic when she was jealous. She was jealous when her crush Conrad would always be interested in another girl. “Conrad has come to the boardwalk for her. He’d brought me because he hadn’t want to come alone… that was it. That was the whole reason. That was the whole reason.
I could see the way he looked at her, the way he almost seemed to hold his breath” (13). Next, Belly was very determined throughout the novel that this would be the summer that everything would be different and she’d get treated like a grown woman. “It was the summer I’d never, ever forget. It was the summer everything began. It was the summer I’d turn retty. And that summer, it finally was. I was” (21). Also, Belly was very caring throughout the whole novel for all the characters, especially Susannah(her mom’s best friend), who was suffering from breast cancer.
She was very supportive throughout the summer, and cared for Susannah if she was her own mother. “If Susannah needed me, then there was something I could do… ‘I could never be mad at you,’I told her, coming up behind her and putting my arms around her stomach. I tucked my head in the space between her neck and her shoulder. She smelled like flowers” (258 & 259). Out of 1 to 10, I’d rate this novel an 8. 5. I really liked how the author used many descriptions to really get a sense of how the character is and their personality.
For instance, I really got a good visual of character traits internally and externally of many of the characters. I also really enjoyed the message of this story relating to how the story started off and how it ended up. However, something that I did not like about this book was that that the author put too much information and details about the characters, but not enough descriptions on the setting and world around the characters. I really would have liked to see more of where the characters lived, how the beach looked, whether they stayed in a busy or quiet place, and if it was close to the local shops or not.
Also, I really didn’t enjoy how the author didn’t make the conflict clear when it appeared in the story because it was hard to figure/pick out, and I didn’t really feel as if it were a major conflict, but it was because there was only one conflict altogether as too one main conflict and other smaller conflicts. Spoiler Alert! The theme of this novel is not to be selfish and appreciate everything you get no matter what way it’s given. From the beginning of the novel, Belly was trying to make this summer more different than all of the other summers she has spent at the beach house in Cousins Beach.
She wanted to change how people made her feel, how she looked, and how she acted, so she didn’t really want to have the same experience as she got in the last years. For instance, “It was the summer I’d never, ever forget. It was the summer everything began. It was the summer I’d turn pretty. And that summer, it finally was, I was” (Han 21). In this quote, Belly was trying to change who she was too much which seemed okay at the time, but really wasn’t a great idea towards the middle of the book. In the middle of the novel, Belly started to get more mature and understand more.
Although she had a boyfriend named Cam, she knew that even though he could act like a jerk, she had feelings for Conrad. In a sense of her maturity, Belly decided to tell Conrad how she felt about him. She stated, “I’ve loved you since I was 10 years old. You’re the only boy l’ve ever thought about. My whole life, it’s always been you” (Han 243). However, changing her looks and acting differently all throughout the summer, didn’t make Conrad fall in love with her. “Well you shouldn’t. I’m not the one sorry. You’re a kid Belly. Get your head out of your butt Belly.
The world doesn’t revolve around you” (Han 244). At this point in the novel, Belly was demoralized because she had always had feelings for Conrad. In spite of this, she had started to realize how selfish she was being throughout the summer with her own life, that she never actually got to spend much time with everyone in the Beach House. She never got to ask anyone, especially Conrad, how they were doing because she was always busy trying to make her relationship with Cam work.
Furthermore, towards the end of the novel, Belly was informed that Susannah Fisher had cancer. She held them tight, like she was the one holding on to me and not the other way around. She said, ‘Belly, Susannah’s sick again. ‘ She’s sick. She has been for a long time. The cancer came back. And it’s- it’s aggressive. It’s spread to her liver” (Han 253). In this moment, Belly figured out that her mother’s best friend was diagnosed with cancer once again. This was a very emotional moment for her because she could’ve known sooner if she payed more attention to everyone around her more. “I wish I had known. If I had been paying attention, it would have been different” (Han 254).
In this point, Belly had realized how selfish she was being all along, and how she didn’t appreciate the time she got to spend with her mother, Susannah, Conrad, and Jeremiah who played the part as her second family. In conclusion, the theme of the novel really connects to the messages shared throughout the novel because Belly started off wanting to change who she was at the beginning, being selfish when she didn’t pay attention to the others in the house, but just herself and her life at the moment. Towards the end, Belly figured out that her mother’s best friend who was like her second mother, was diagnosed with cancer again.
