The Summer I Turned Pretty

By Jenny Han

Book Overview

Now a blockbuster original series on Prime Video Will Belly choose Jeremiah or Conrad?

Belly has an unforgettable summer in this stunning start to the Summer I Turned Pretty series from the New York Times bestselling author of To All the Boys I've Loved Before (now a major motion picture ), Jenny Han.

Some summers are just destined to be pretty.

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416968296
• ISBN13: 9781416968290
• Release Date: April 2010
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.1"
• Age Range: 13 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 8 to 12

Customer Reviews

Great read!

I really enjoyed this book. It is a romance book, so if you like that you'll love this. It was a page turner for me.

Jenny Han's books are truly amazing!

Like To All The Boy's I've Loved Before this series if a must read, really cute story!

Great book

I loved the book... what had me a little sad at first was that the book cover I got was completely different from the one that shows but that’s just something that bother me... anyhow the book itself was amazing

Jenny Han does it again

I really enjoyed reading Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah’s story. Han keeps you hooked constantly through this book. The only issue I had was there were times when I didn’t know what timeline the characters were in so you REALLY had to pay attention to that. But I still recommend this book :)

A fun, light-hearted read :)

Going into this book, I'm not going to lie- I had low expectations. Although I have LOVED Jenny Han's work, I just could not see what was so good about this book from the synopsis. After reading it though, I found that I really happened to like the characters and the story line, and I am really excited to read the rest of the series!

Perfect, if you're looking for a cute romance.

What I like the must about this book, is how pure and innocent love is portrait, and how can a crush can be come a long lasting love. I still believe the character needed to review her feeling before taking any rush decision.

Um..yes, thank you.

If you are a romance lover you will really enjoy this book. And if you are new to reading and want something that will grab you immediately, this is the book for you! I'm onto the second book now and am itching at the moment to finish working so I can dive back in hahaha. Anyway, yes 100% this is the purchase your looking for.

Love this book!

I cannot express how much I absolutely love this book and the rest of the series. This book is hands down my favorite book. It's a great read for those who like sweet teen romance books. Love!!!!

Now I Must Read the Sequel!

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han was written in 2009 about a teenage girl who spends every summer at a beach house with her mother, her mother's best friend, and her two sons. I picked up this book while browsing through a local book store and thought it would be a nice change of pace from all the spies, assassins, and current mystery books which I have been reading. It was with the teenage girl's section and with summer upon me, I put it with a few others before going to the check out counter. What a fun book! Yes, it is a coming of age book, extremely well written, and perfect for anyone who is a teen and older. This certainly could have been a book based upon fact, and probably was, which in turn left the reader wanting to read the sequel. I already ordered it and should receive it in a couple of days. The main character is a young girl who grows up from about 11 to 16 throughout the book. Her friends have known her since young children as the boys are now reaching young adulthood. The girl's nickname is Bells or Belly and she has been drooling over one of the brothers, Conrad, since time began. Finding out what happens with this relationship is the key to the story, along with other bylines of the teenagers growing up, and you will learn of the ending. However, the story also leads into a follow-up book which you will want to read, as well. I give it 5 stars.

Utterly delicious

The rising moon slowly cooling the warm summer sands is the perfect melancholy backdrop for saying goodbye to the glorious heat of the day after a bit of fun in the sun. There's something magical about beaches, starry nights and that never ceasing surf. Marshmallows, midnight swims, sunburn and summer crushes mix so well with the scent of sun block and ozone, this was a perfect beach away from the beach type of a read, and it made me feel as if I was spending a summer by the ocean, something I haven't don't in a while. This book is delicious, reading it I felt all my adolescent memories coming back, I could smell and feel things I have almost forgotten about, the author did an amazing job of making this story so strong I could taste it in my mouth and feel the heat on my face. One summer the dive off that pool board equaled a dive into adulthood ( there was a pool as well at the house), at fourteen Belly started to feel her femininity bursting at the seams, such a strange age for any female, our heroine wasn't spared the usual teenage fate. Some heart ache, some lessons learned and some feelings blossoming into more than liking someone. Spending summers with her mother's friend and her two sons have never been as fascinating as this summer, luckily the reader is there along for the ride, we get to be the fly on the wall and witness summer love, growing pains, confusion and jealousy as well as losing something or someone. This book was so much fun that I can't wait to read the second installment, which sounds really intense. It's really best to read this knowing very little plot, finding out what happens is half the fun. This is YA fiction done to perfection with crisp prose and alluring plot that keeps the reader glued to the pages, I loved it. - Kasia S.

A Magical Promise and Possibility Inherent in the Summers of One's Youth

It's that time of year --- teens are putting away their textbooks and calculators, unpacking their bikinis and suntan lotion, and heading for the beach. Many high school and college students would say that they live for the summer, but 15-year-old Isabel (nicknamed Belly) really means it. As long as she can remember, she, her mother and her older brother Steven have spent the summer on the beach with her mother's best friend, Susannah, and Susannah's two sons. "For me, it was almost like winter didn't count," Belly reflects. "Summer was what mattered. My whole life was measured in summers. Like I don't really begin living until June, until I'm at that beach, in that house." Belly starts the summer she turns 16 with the same air of excitement with which she has approached all the others. She can't wait to see Jeremiah and Conrad again, to head to the beach for parties, to swim midnight laps in the pool, to eat Susannah's terrific cooking. But as soon as she arrives at the beach house, she knows something is different. Part of it is her; Susannah notes that Belly has "blossomed" since the previous summer, and Belly wonders if it's just her imagination, or if Jeremiah and Conrad's brotherly teasing has gained a new flirtatiousness. Belly has loved Susannah's older son Conrad as long as she can remember. Dark, aloof and brooding, he has all the makings of a romantic anti-hero. But this summer, Conrad is downright distant, even cold, as he shuts himself into his room when he's not busy smoking and drinking too much. Meanwhile, Conrad's younger brother Jeremiah, Belly's best friend, suddenly seems awkward around her. Is it possible that this boy, who has always been like a brother to her, is harboring a secret crush of his own? This intriguing love triangle gains an extra dimension when Belly finds her first real boyfriend, a clean-living Latin scholar named Cam, whose very existence seems to add unexpected tension to Belly's relationships with Conrad and Jeremiah. There are plenty of secrets to go around; even the normally sunny Susannah is hiding a secret that will change everything even more. Perhaps because she recognizes that nothing --- not even her usual idyllic summers --- will ever be the same again, Belly frequently reflects on the summers of her past, the ones where her changeable relationships with Jeremiah and Conrad grew stronger and sometimes stranger. A carnival prize, a favorite song, a first kiss --- recalling these pivotal moments from previous summers illustrates how the friends got to where they are today and demonstrates the kind of magical promise and possibility inherent in the summers of one's youth. THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY is just the first in a projected trilogy that will continue to explore the changing fortunes and complex personalities of these closely intertwined characters. The surprising shift at the novel's close will ensure that readers, like Belly, will spend lots of time longing for the next summer chapter i

A beautiful story, well told

This book has a strong story and well-developed characters. You really get a sense of Belly's summer family, not only her relationships with Jeremiah and Conrad, but also her relationship with Susannah, with her mother and brother, her mother's relationship with Susannah, how the boys all get along with each other, and so on. You also get a sense of how important these relationships are to Belly, how they shape who she is and who she is becoming. Belly is at that heart-breaking place of being neither child nor adult, leaving childhood behind, not really knowing what to expect for the future. This is a novel about growing up, about family who might become friends and friends who might become family--and about love, all the different kinds. A beautiful story.

made me cry - it was all good!

This was a beautiful story about how fast things and people can change. If I had the chance to live on a beach house, I'd abandon the city just because of this author's ability to draw me in this tale of love for family, friends and even the love of a house. THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY was wonderfully written and I'm putting this author's other works in my TBR pile eager to read more. mmyf