Customer Reviews

Summer Boys (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

this book was very disappointing. The cover and synopsis make it sound interesting, but the inside fails to deliver. It has the makings of a great book: 3 girls, all at their Maine cottages for a fun summer. However, the plot quickly fizzles. There is Jamie and Ethan, Beth and George, and the Ella-Peter-Kelsi triangle. Jamie and Ethan met the previous summer, and had a pen and paper relationship for a year. Jamie is incredibly eager to see her boyfriend face to face again, but once she sees him, he becomes distant and pushes her away. Despondant Jamie goes into the classic destroyer mode, and tries everything to get him back, including dressing in a way that is totally not her, drinking herself into oblivion, and, of course, throwing herself at one of hid friends. Beth and George have been friends forever, but when George meets a girl on the beach, Beth suddelny realizes (duh) what a prince George is, and begins to hate innocent Cara, his new crush. She closes herself off, and resorts to ridiculous, childish tricks like hiding his clothes while he and Cara skinny-dip. All this does is enrage him, until the two have a romantic encounter (possibly under the influence of alcohol). George then takes off, leaving Beth even more confused. As for Ella, she is portrayed as the worldly girl who captures any and every boy she wants, and then dicards them at her leisure. On her first night in Maine, she spots Peter, the lead singer of a band. She falls head over heels in lust with him. Peter, however, seems to be the first boy who doesn't want Ella back: he prefers he all natural sister Kelsi, who certainly reciprocates the feeling. Ella becomes shy and unsure of herself, but still manages to exert all her charms to Peter. Kelsi, meanwhile, is showing all the signs of really falling in love. Then, she breaks up with him because he naturally wants too much, too fast. Ella has no problem secretly taking Kelsi's place, thouhg, and gives Peter what he wants. When Kelsi reveals to Ella that she knows Peter cheated on her, Ella almost dies.....until she realizes Kelsi doesn't know that she was the "other woman". Ella procedes to brazely lie to her sister, going as far as accompanying her to confront Peter the Cheater. Despite all this turmoil, Ella manages to waltz away without a scratch. The book leaves all 3 realationships unresolved. The "bad" characters receive no justice, and the "good" characters are left without satisfying endings. None of the characters are in depth. All the boys are percieved as shallow users, and the girls as desperate. This book is a perfect example of steryotyping.

Don't get me wrong. "Summer Boys", by all means, was definitely not a waste of ink on my summer reading list. But it was nowhere near as exciting as the story's juicy blurb made it out to be; thus, Hailey Abbott's novel became more and more predictable with every turn of the page.
Here's the facts and dets for those of you who are just dying to pick up this mildly-stimulating beach read.
Ella is by far, the most beautiful and most promiscous of her somewhat shy big sis and her two cousin cohorts, wants nothing more than a little time alone with the coolest guy on the shore. Too bad that he's fast and willingly becoming her sister Kelsi's main squeeze (not that anything so "trivial" has stopped Ella before). Then there's Jamie, the quiet chick who's hoping to rekindle her summer fling with her virginity-taking, adorable-beyond-words "boyfriend", Ethan. But a summer apart seems to have caused his heart to go wander instead of fonder. And finally, my fav and most easily connected with cousin, Beth. She came to spend the summer with her best friend George and soon finds herself on the lookout for the perfect "summer boy," only to find that he was possibly right under her nose all along.
On the plus side, this quick read is just that...QUICK, yet still fun and enjoyable. The uncertainty of relationships from beginning to end is a good touch. Beth's storyline compensates for Jamie's boring one and MOST of Ella's.
On the negative side, there are over-exaggerated characters like the latter, for instance...could the author have been channeling a particular blonde and thin partying socialite (c'mon,we ALL know how I'm talkin' about) a bit more than originally intended? And, those afore-mentioned "predictable" pratfalls in the "Boys" plot. Twenty or so pages before the very ending, you can pretty much create your own conclusion to the book and later learn your storybook wish for everybody came true.
Give "Summer Boys" a shot only if you're prepared to be, shall I say, kinda disappointed. It's sort of over-done for the younger ones' taste, so don't lend it to your nine-year-old sister afterward, either.

Sure this books a nice light read, looks cute and funny. Some may call it "hot" but seriously people this book is none of the above. Way to throw girls off with a sexy title, truly, this book is boring. It's really a pointless book that repeats itself constantly, Its all about three girls who are dateing boys, and it's not exciting at all. You really need more conflict in this book. Overall i think this book is stupid. Im sorry if you liked this book, but everyone gets to share their opinion, RIGHT?

Summer vacation is a time that's anticipated all year long. This year the Tuttle/Carr family is expecting the best summer ever on their vacation spot, Pebble Beach. The three cousins: Ella, Beth and Jamie all encounter their first boy, first love, and first time. Although there are many characters in the story, you will find it easy to make a connection with each one. It will allow you to experience a very adventurous and romantic summer on Pebble Beach.

Ella, Beth, and Jamie are all expecting to fall in love this summer. Jamie will see her boyfriend Ethan from last summer, Beth will get to hang out with her best friend George, and Ella hopes to find her own "summer boy". Jamie tries to spend as much time with Ethan as she can until she realizes they aren't at the same stage of their relationship. Beth begins having strange feelings for her best friend when she finds him flirting with a girl he meets on the beach. Ella falls in love with her sister's boyfriend and realizes she'll do anything for them to break up.

Through many events all of the cousins find their "summer boys". Many things happen in the book that change the character's lives and how they think.

Sometimes what you're least expecting will happen. Ella, Jamie, and Beth all prove that "first times" only happen once and they shouldn't be wasted. Hailey Abbott shares with the reader a truly unforgettable summer vacation on Pebble Beach. Abbott also shares the value of friendship and love.

This book is great for high school students who enjoy reading romance novels. It is also good for students who like reading about kids their age. This book hooks you from the beginning and you won't want to put it down. After reading this book, you'll want to check out the sequel: Summer Boys 2: Next Summer.

Hailey Abbott

Every summer, the Tuttle's go to Pebble Beach for vacation. Three cousins, Ella, Jamie, and Beth all get tied up in relationships. Ella, the prettiest one, is looking for someone to hook up with and looking forward to having fun. She falls for a rocker, but finds out that he is already taken by her sister Kelsi. In order to get the rocker, Peter, she'll have to go behind her sister's back and possibly hurt her. Jamie is mainly excited about seeing her former boyfriend, Ethan. They spend some time together, but Jamie is feeling pushed away. It's as if Ethan doesn't see her as a girlfriend anymore. Beth is a more down to earth kind of girl and also a tomboy. She spends a lot of time with her guy friend George, and they've been best friends for as long as Beth can remember. George is starting to spend time with someone else now, Cara. Beth suddenly starts feeling jealous and that's when she realizes, she's in love with George. So who will George choose, Cara or Beth? It's up to you to find out.
What I liked about this book was that it was based on relationships and feelings that the girls had. It shows how tied up in relationships people can get. I didn't like that there was no real plot or point to the story. It didn't focus on one main thing. I recommend this book to teenage girls just because it talks a lot about the things that teenage girls face. This is a fast and easy read book.

I thoroughly enjoyed, actually, LOVED this book! I found it obviously to be a great read this summer and it was.
The basic plot of the story is: Last summer Jamie lost her virginity to a boy named Ethan, who seemed like the most amazing guy. They spent all of their time together and she was head-over-heels for him. This summer, however, when Jamie returns to her cottage, she realizes that, during their year apart Ethan doesn't fell the same way for her anymore. Jamie is deeply hurt and struggles to realize, that maybe she's better off without Ethan.
Beth is at her cottage with her best friend George and she is determined to find the perfect "Summer Boy". She wants a guy this summer that she can experience things with and she wants it badly. When George (somewhat a nerd) has a beautiful girl that wants to go out with him, Beth becomes very jealous and realizes that maybe all along her "Perfect Boy" was George. They've been friends for years and know everything about each other, so why not give it a go? Things are never that easy though, are they?
Ella is the "beautiful one". The one who all the guys like and when she see a guy playing in a band, at the festival this summer, he has to be hers. Once the band is done playing, she walks around looking for the lead singer only to find him, talking to her sister. Immediately she knows she must steal him away form her sister and have him for herself.
My favorite character was Beth definitely! The story between her and George is what any girl would want. A guy, who likes you for you and knows everything about you. Good and bad. George is romantic and caring, who wouldn't want him?
The thing I liked most about the book was, it was very realistic. Everything that the girls were going through was real and I couldn't help, exchanging them for myself while reading, especially when it came to Beth and George.
This is truly a GREAT READ!!

When I first requested this book from the library, it was one of those deals on Amazon where it says "Items Like This". I usually go by that and am not often dissapointed. I picked this book up and started reading it and at first I was no impressed until I became more intrigued about Beth and George's relationship. Thats part of the reason I continued reading this book. If you like the Gossip Girl series by Cecily von Ziegesar, you will most likely enjoy this summer read. I hope Hailey Abbott writes another story about these characters!

Summer Boys was the book I read for my outside reading project. It was a very quick read. It is about a group of teenagers that stay in Main over the summer in little cottages on the beach. Most of them are related but not all of them. The main charters are Beth, Jamie, and Ella. Beth is best friends with George and they have known each other for years. She is really athletic and strong. When George meets a girl named Cara at the beach they start dating. Beth gets jealous and all of the sudden she starts to have feelings for George.
Jamie comes to Maine with the feeling that the boy she met last year at the beach and kept in touch with over the year is still her boyfriend. She dreams of days with Ethan and spending endless time together. When she first arrives he tells her he will be leaving two weeks early. She gets more upset and thinks they are growing apart. She loves everything about Ethan and doesn't want them to break up. Her anger drives her too far in and she can't get out.
Ella is the type of girl who goes from guy to guy. She is very beautiful and she knows it. She isn't conceited though. She wears revealing clothing to show off her body. She sees a guy, Peter that she really likes but he falls for her sister, Kelsi. She tries to forget about him but she can't. She thinks he has feelings for her but when things mess up with Kelsi and him, Ella finds herself alone with Peter and she doesn't have her usual confidence. She can barely make small talk. She tries to figure out why she doesn't.
This book will make you want to keep reading. You wonder what's going to happen next. You need to suspect the unsuspected. If you have ever seen the show Laguna Beach on MTV you will love this book. It is slightly inappropriate so I would advise only teenagers read it. Other than that I highly recommend it.

This book is definetaly five-star worthy! every chapter has you wanting to read on to the next so you can find out what happens. it's very gripping and so exciting. i can't wait till i get the sequal! recomended to all girls! everyone can relate to one or more of the characters and it makes it that much better!

I don't mean to poke fun at this book but I'm only 16 and I could have written it better myself. This is truly a terrible novel. If you are looking for something to read that has teenage romance and hookups then just buy a Gossip Girl...it's the gift that keeps on giving...#7 is coming May 2004. Don't waste your time on this pathetic portrayal of teenage life.