The Summer List

April 9, 2018
This accomplished debut novel from Doan cleverly blends a coming-of-age tale, the story of a long-simmering mystery, and a thoughtful study of relationships between childhood friends. Laura Christie and Casey Shepherd were best friends as teenagers growing up in quaint Coeur-de-Lune, Calif., but they have become estranged as adults. Seventeen years after they graduated high school, Casey’s eccentric mother reunites them with an elaborate scavenger hunt intended to prompt their reconciliation. The book toggles between Laura’s narration of her prickly 2016 reunion with Casey and their teenage years in the 1990s, when Laura feels out of place in her strict adopted mother’s home and intoxicated by the exuberant tenuous life Casey and her mother, Alex, share. While the conceit of the scavenger hunt and the accompanying tidiness of the mystery about what caused the rupture in Casey and Laura’s friendship stretch the limits of plausibility, Doan’s layered storytelling moves readers slowly toward uncovering what happened to each of the three women. As Laura and Casey move through the items on the list, they reenact previous moments from their early friendship, like swimming in Jade Cove and ice skating at a local skating rink, which slowly works to rekindle their friendship. Doan’s characters leap off the page, believably struggling with the conflict between resentment and tenderness. With lovable characters and a scenic small town, Doan’s pleasant mix of mystery and high school nostalgia will please readers who grew up with the novels of Judy Blume.

April 15, 2018
Seventeen years ago, Laura Christie suddenly fled her home on the lake of beautiful Coeur-de-Lune. But she cannot resist an invitation back to see her estranged best friend.Adopted by an older couple, Laura had chafed under her mother's strict, religious rules, not to mention the school bullies. So when red-haired Casey and her artistic, flighty mom, Alex, moved into the run-down house everyone called The Shipwreck, just across the lake, Laura was intrigued. Soon the girls were the best of friends, and Alex--too young to remember she was supposed to impose rules--was included in most of their shenanigans. With Casey and Alex at her side, Laura shook off her shyness, creating a new, vibrant family yet fracturing her relationship with her adoptive parents. Now 35, Casey and Laura need to mend their friendship, and Alex, with the help of Laura's ex-boyfriend J.B., has designed a scavenger hunt to help them. The hunt sends them to all of their old haunts, including the restaurant where Casey first came out to Laura and the roller-skating rink where Laura first met J.B. Looming behind their summer reunion, however, is the question of Laura's biological parentage. Threading the tale of Laura's biological mother throughout the novel, her debut, Doan builds toward the revelation by tightening the bond between Laura and Casey, whose mothers turn out to have been friends, too. Resisting their own mothers' religious constraints, these women of the 1980s found each other at summer camp, forging a strong bond. Without judgment, Doan carefully portrays their living in a commune with one of Coeur-de-Lune's sons. Casey and Laura learn how their own mothers faced parental disapproval, teenage pregnancy, and drug use to accept why only Casey's mom could take on motherhood.A poignant tale of mothers and daughters finding their ways home to each other.

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Starred review from June 1, 2018
As a teenager, Laura, her best friend, Casey, and their friends spent their summers scouring their small lakeside town for finds for the elaborate scavenger hunts designed by Casey's free-spirited mom, Alex. Seventeen years later, when an invitation for one last scavenger hunt arrives at her door, Laura can only remember how it all ended?with a huge betrayal and Laura running as far and fast from her hometown, and her friend, as she could. She quickly realizes she can't say no to this opportunity, and soon she and Casey are off on a trip down memory lane. Over the course of a weekend, secrets will be uncovered, misunderstandings will be cleared, and one final, shocking revelation will change everything Laura and Casey thought they knew about their childhoods. This is a lovely debut by Doan, exploring themes of motherhood, daughterhood, and first love with tenderness and humor. The writing is fresh and charming, a perfect read for anyone who spent her teenage years reading the racy bits of cheap paperbacks out loud to her best friends.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

June 15, 2018

It's the summer before her freshman year of high school, and Laura is excited for the time off but dreading the year ahead. Adding to the problem is her adoptive mother, who is not the loving and open mom she longs for. When a new family moves in across the lake from her home, Laura meets Casey, who will be in her class in the fall. Casey excels where Laura is lackings-hes' outgoing and fearless with a mother who is like a sister to her. Their relationship grows as the years go by until the summer after they graduate high school, when tragedy strikes Lauras' life and she abruptly cuts ties with Casey. Seventeen years later, the two are brought back together when Casey's mom, Alex, tricks them into meeting. As they start spending time together they begin to unravel the mystery of the misunderstanding that drove them apart and the circumstances that brought them together. VERDICT With a vivid sense of place and characters as real as your high school besties, this debut novel is sure to please fans of Kristin Hannah and Elin Hilderbrand. [See Prepub Alert, 12/11/17.]--Karen Core, Detroit P.L.

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