Summerlost

October 28, 1986
In the book of Daniel appears the Apocrypha, a hymn of praise that was sung by Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, three Jewish captives in Babylon who were thrown into a fiery furnace and saved by an angel. "O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord: praise him and magnify him forever.'' In her dazzling paintings, Baynes takes the naturalistic view that God is everywhere and in all things. But this book is more for adults than for young readers; the elaborate illustrations do not illuminate the text, but complement it for the more sophisticated eye.

Starred review from December 7, 2015
Condie (Matched) strikes a deep emotional chord with this coming-of-age story about 12-year-old Cedar Lee, who has moved to Iron Creek, Utah, for the summer with her mother and younger brother, Miles, as the family struggles to regroup after an accident claimed the lives of Cedar’s father and brother Ben. Cedar quickly meets enterprising, offbeat Leo, who gets her a job at Summerlost, the town’s yearly Shakespeare festival. As the new friends team up to give (unofficial) walking tours about the life of legendary actress and hometown hero Lisette Chamberlain, they become captivated by the circumstances surrounding the woman’s death. Condie is at her best in this foray into middle grade fiction, grabbing readers’ interest from the first page while creating memorable characters struggling through deep emotional pain. The thread of Lisette’s mystery is intriguing in itself, but Leo and Cedar’s unlikely friendship steals the show. Their adventures, set against the quirky backdrop of a community of personality-rich theater creators, make for a summer with plenty of good to remember along with the bad. Ages 10–up. Agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers House.

December 15, 2015
A year after losing two family members, a girl spends the summer in a small town with a Shakespeare festival. Mom buys a summer house for herself, 12-year-old Cedar, and 8-year-old Miles in Iron Creek, where Mom grew up. It's been a year since a drunk driver killed Cedar's father and other little brother, Ben. As Cedar gets a job selling concessions at the Shakespeare festival, makes a friend named Leo, and finds herself and Miles obsessed with a morbid soap-opera arc on TV, Condie touches everything lightly but deftly with the family's grief. Leo and Cedar research--and give unauthorized tours about--a long-dead, famous actress from the town; Cedar's pulled by that research because she knows, now, that things can disappear forever. Ben was disabled (maybe autistic), and their relationship was sometimes difficult. Her relationship with Miles is stolid and understatedly touching. Details are careful and never extraneous; there's a reason it matters, at a certain moment, that "the milk was perfectly cold and the bananas not too ripe" in a bowl of cereal. Despite indicating that Cedar bonds with Leo because they're both outsiders--she as a biracial Chinese-American, he for vaguer reasons--an explanation for their friendship isn't necessary. Although Cedar's narration as a character of color is largely convincing, white is still the default for other characters unless otherwise specified. There's no monumental grief breakthrough, nor should there be: this is the realistic going on, day by day, after bereavement. Honest, lovely, and sad. (Fiction. 10-13)

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December 1, 2015

Gr 5-8-A year after the accident that killed Cedar Lee's father and younger brother, her family still feels freshly broken. Her mother moves the remainder of the family out to her hometown of Iron Creek for the summer. Cedar's mom throws herself into fixing up their new house, leaving Cedar and her younger brother Miles to explore the area on their own. Cedar can't shake her grief, especially when small trinkets that remind her of her brother Ben start appearing on her windowsill. Then Cedar notices that a strangely dressed boy rides by her house on his bike at the same time every day. She follows the boy and winds up with a new friend and a job at the Summerlost theater festival. As she dives into an old town mystery with Leo, she feels her heart slowly start to heal. Condie focuses mainly on Cedar's healing. Miles and her mother are present, and their journey through grief is certainly evident, but more care is given to Cedar and the development of her new relationships through the theater program. Leo is a vibrant secondary character, as are some of the other charming folks Cedar meets throughout her stay in Iron Creek. Have this on hand for readers who enjoy a sweet, heartfelt story. VERDICT A first purchase for middle grade collections, particularly where realistic fiction and coming-of-age stories are in demand.-Carli Worthman, Carmel Middle School, Carmel, IN

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2015
Grades 4-7 Condie makes her middle-grade debut with a tender novel about a family coming to terms with a personal tragedy. The summer after Cedar loses her father and brother Ben in a car accident, her mother moves their family, now just three of them, to Iron Creek, Utah, home to the Summerlost Shakespeare Festival. Cedar finds an unexpected friend in Leo, a theater nerd obsessed with Lisette Chamberlain, a famous actress who made her start at Summerlost before dying young. In their time off work at Summerlost, Leo and Cedar run unauthorized Lisette Chamberlain tours while trying to piece together what really happened to her. The mystery of Lisette plays second fiddle to the novel's centerpiece: the special friendship between Cedar and Leo, which helps Cedar deal with her grief. An aching sense of loss pervades the story, focusing more on Ben than on Cedar's dad. Though it is never named in the story, readers will put together that Ben was on the autism spectrum. A nuanced portrait of grief deeply grounded in the middle-school mind-set. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Banking on the popularity of Condie's Matched series, her publishers are welcoming her middle-grade debut with some hefty promotion, including an author tour.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2016
After twelve-year-old Cedar's father and brother are killed in an accident, she seeks distraction at a theater festival. There she befriends Leo, who introduces her to legends surrounding a famous local actress's mysterious death. Their investigation is compelling, but the strongest impact comes from the characters' personal struggles and honest interactions, which keep the story feeling authentic right up to the thoughtful conclusion.

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)