Those Summer Nights
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4.7 • 3 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
After recovering from a life-changing injury, a teen girl must navigate a new job, an ex-best friend, and two surprisingly attractive coworkers in this “sweet, romantic summer tale” (Kirkus Reviews) for fans of Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian.
Hannah used to be all about focus, back before she shattered her ankle and her Olympic dreams in one bad soccer play. These days, she’s all about distraction—anything to keep the painful memories of her recent past at bay, including the string of bad decisions that landed her at boarding school for a year.
Enter Bonanza, the local entertainment multiplex and site of Hannah’s summer employment. With its mini golf course, bowling alley, and arcade—not to mention her hot, flirty coworker Patrick—Bonanza seems like the perfect way to stay distracted. Until her boss announces the annual Bonanza tournament, a staff competition that brings her past Olympic nightmares crashing back into her present.
On top of that, the Bonanza staff includes Brie, the ex-best friend she cut off last year, and Ethan, her brother’s best friend who became unreasonably attractive in her year away and who accepts her, even knowing her worst secrets. Under the neon lights of Bonanza, Hannah must decide whether she can find a way to discover a new self in the midst of her old life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
After 17-year-old white and Jewish Hannah Klein returns home from a rehabilitative boarding school for substance dependency, she's eager to put her pain—caused by a catastrophic ankle injury that ended her Olympic soccer future, a massive blowout with childhood best friend Brie Bradley, and her beloved Bubbie's death—behind her. A summer job working with friends new and old at entertainment multiplex Bonanza is the perfect distraction. She spends her shifts tiptoeing around Brie; hanging out with her younger brother, Joey; and flirting with charming Patrick Cho and Joey's extremely hot best friend Ethan Alderman. But when planning Bonanza Olympics—a tournament that includes mini golf, bowling, and laser tag competitions—dredges up her shattered Olympian dreams and broken relationships, Hannah struggles between moving forward and staying stuck in everything she's worked tirelessly to overcome. Alternating past and present timelines occasionally muddle narrative focus, and Hannah's substance dependency is only briefly explored, but a biting first-person narration that never turns cynical lends itself well to the novel's hopeful atmosphere. Silverman (Recommended for You) thoughtfully depicts complex, racially diverse characters and solidly establishes intricate interpersonal relationships, which together elevate this summery romance. Ages 14–up.
