Summerlost

Summer would be same and never the same.

Last summer we had a dad and a brother and then they were gone.

It's been a year since the devastating car accident that killed Cedar's father and young brother, Ben. But now Cedar and what's left of her family are spending the summer in her mother's hometown of Iron Creek and trying to amend their broken pieces. Memories surround Cedar, including strange gifts that begin to appear in the night- the type of small household items her brother Ben used to collect.

Until one day a boy named Leo, dressed in costume, rides by on his bike, and everything about Cedar's summer changes. Soon, Cedar not only has a jov working at the reowned Summerlost theater festival, but also a growing friendship with Leo that will blossom as they piece together clues about the short and tragic life of one of Iron Creek's most famous residents. - excerpt from book.

Summerlost by Ally Condie is a standalone middle grade book. It's about this girl who is 12 years old and trying to grief on her father and brother's death. Her summer is totally different because of the missing family members. I really like the characters of this book because it's quite realistic. I could sort of relate to them easily and how they try to deal with their grief. I loved the activities that the festival has, it was quite interesting. I also love the interactions between characters especially Cedar and Leo, Cedar and her other younger brother. I definitely look forward to reading about them all the time. The side chracters are really interesting people too and I wished the author would have gave them more depth like Leo's family.

The plot of the book was very basic and simple with the topic of grieving as the main thing. This was a really short read and so there weren't too many twists and turns, just a reasonable amount. The flow was really smooth, everything happened at a good pace. I truly wished that their adventures would be longer so I would have more to read. I love the writing of the book as how the author managed to describe Cedar's feelings simple yet wonderful at the same time.

If you tend to enjoy middle grade books then do give this book a try. I find that even though it was short it captured my attention well and I love how I could relate to the book. I love that I learnt new things when it comes to the subject of grieving.