Reading Response

This past week, I finished reading That Summer by Sarah Dessen. This high school romance was a great story.  The theme of this story was that even the people that we place the most trust in can hurt us. The main character, Haven, realizes this when she finds out Sumner, her sister's sweet old boyfriend that she adores, cheated on her sister, Ashley. This is important message in life that everyone, especially young people, should learn. We are all human and we all make mistakes. The mistakes we make, though, can have a big impact on the people in our lives.

            My question for this story was, “Why is Sumner so important to the Haven?” Throughout the story, Haven was struggling with the many changes that were going on in her life from her parent’s divorce to her sister’s wedding to the dramatic change in her best friend’s personality. Then Haven runs into Sumner, Ashley’s old boyfriend. Sumner was definitely her favorite of all of Ashley’s boyfriends; he was the nicest. I feel that seeing Sumner reminds Haven of time in her life before the crazy life changing events were taking place. Haven does not want to let go of her old life in which Sumner was a part of. That is why it is so hard for her to let him go.  

8/21- 50 pages of That Summer in an hour

8/24- 78 pages of That Summer in an hour and thirteen minutes