The Summer I learned to Fly – Review

July 6, 2011 Uncategorized 0

The blog tour for The Summer I Learned to Fly by Dana Reinhardt kicked-off here at YA Bibliophile on Monday. Check out the full list of tour stops. Thanks again to Dana for her post! Now for my thoughts on the book:

The Summer I Learned to Fly

Author: Dana Reinhardt
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
Publication Date: July 12, 2011
Pages: 224
Source: ARC received for blog tour


About the Book: Drew’s a bit of a loner. She has a pet rat, her dead dad’s Book of Lists, an encyclopedic knowledge of cheese from working at her mom’s cheese shop, and a crush on Nick, the surf bum who works behind the counter. It’s the summer before eighth grade and Drew’s days seem like business as usual, until one night after closing time, when she meets a strange boy in the alley named Emmett Crane. Who he is, why he’s there, where the cut on his cheek came from, and his bottomless knowledge of rats are all mysteries Drew will untangle as they are drawn closer together, and Drew enters into the first true friendship, and adventure, of her life. (from goodreads)


My Thoughts: This book was not what I thought it would be. I was expecting the story of a summer. I thought it would start at the beginning and go straight through to the end. I figured there would be some unrequited love (the whole crush on the surf bum part) and a bit of drama with that. That was not what I got. Instead the book read more like a conversation. Drew is telling the story of her thirteenth summer. We’re not sure exactly how old she is now (you find out at the end) but we know that she is looking back. I really enjoyed this approach. 


One of the things really caught me was the way each section of the book built on the previous to make the story come together. It isn’t the type of story where each chapter reveals more of what happens next. Interspersed among the linear story of what happened the summer Drew was 13 are sections that tell about important things in Drew’s life. They might not directly deal with what is happening but they give the reader a great understanding of who Drew is. You really feel like you know her by the end of the book. Dana Reinhardt does an amazing job of forging a relationship between the characters and the reader. 


The Summer I Learned to Fly is a poignant story of growing up, friendship, and believing. 

Random Things I Loved:
*The titles rather than chapter numbers
*Drew’s thoughts on Wisconsin 🙂
*Swoozie
*The way Drew’s mom signs her notes
*The “Book of Lists”
*Nick
*Finding out how old Drew is now at the end of the story

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