THE LOST SUMMER
Kathryn Williams
Disney-Hyperion
Fiction
ISBN: 9781423101284
272 pages

• About the Book

Seventeen-year-old Helena Waite lives for the five weeks of the year that she gets to go to summer camp. She’s been attending Southpoint for years, and she loves every moment of the beautiful Tennessee camp for girls. But this year is especially exciting, as Helena will be working as a first-year counselor. Unfortunately, her best friend, Katie Bell, missed the age requirement by only a few months and must remain a camper for one more year. Even though both are disappointed, they know Southpoint will offer another awesome summer to fill with happy memories.

Helena and Katie Bell met at camp. However, since they live so far apart, they only get to see each other for the five weeks at Southpoint. Despite this, they are the absolute best of friends. In fact, it was Katie Bell who helped Helena get through the nightmare when her father left. Because of Katie Bell and their special friendship, Helena found laughter again.

Even though the two swear things will remain the same, almost immediately the boundaries set between camper and counselor begin to affect their friendship. Katie Bell feels left out and left behind as Helena jumps into a whole new world. Helena is doing things she never dreamed she would, like skinny-dipping in the middle of the night with the neighboring camps’ male counselors, and sneaking cigarettes. She also can’t believe her good fortune when Ransome, her longtime crush, finally notices her and even seems to like her. Can life get any better? 

Or any worse? The line drawn between Helena and Katie Bell as counselor and camper starts to put a strain on their friendship. Camp life definitely isn’t the same as before, and Helena feels she’s growing apart from Katie Bell. Arguments, misunderstandings, rumors and secrets are pushing a huge wedge between them. Will their friendship survive? And when the horrible accident explodes right beneath their feet, will they even survive to try and gather up the pieces of their once unbreakable bond?

Ya gotta love the summer camp novels, especially the extra awesome ones like THE LOST SUMMER. Kathryn Williams’s fondness for her own summer camp experiences shines through the pages, allowing readers to share and take part. Throughout the book, her vivid characters come across as real and likable, thus touching the reader’s heart with emotions and tickling the brain with noteworthy thoughts. And amidst all of the exciting camp activities and relationships, Williams sets a storm of emotions brewing and building, successfully creating an underlying suspense that bursts with the final chapters. Williams’s talents make THE LOST SUMMER a book to catch a hold of and enjoy.

    --- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman, author of FINDING MY LIGHT, THE BLACK POND and GHOSTS OF THE UPPER PENINSULA

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