Customer Reviews

The fabulous year

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I read this book twenty-some years ago, loved it, and would love to read it again. It is the sequel to Blueberry Summer, and describes Cass Phillips' senior year in highschool: what happens after her summer of self-discovery and the realization of her potential. The Fabulous Year addresses issues we all dealt with at that age: self-esteem, peer pressure, the desire to be "in with the in crowd", loyalty in friendship and romance (yes, Adam Ross is in this book, too!); and some other, more unusual topics. Cass is neither rebel nor goody-goody, but makes her own decisions by being true to her values: a victory sometimes hard-won. Unfortunately, it is currently out of print, but maybe the combined voices of the Blueberry Summer fans will bring it back: WE WANT CASS! WE WANT CASS! WE WANT CASS!

I borrowed this book from my older sister's shelf well over 30 years ago, I'm guessing. By age 12 I was a seasoned voracious reader, and while my parents and the nuns had me digesting books like The yearling and the works of Flannery O'Connor my sister was enjoying more mainstream reading with Teen Magazines and books like this one. When I picked this up at the time I remember being impressed with how well-written it was--very readable, good character development. The dialogue and the emotions fairly real and believeable. Several Years later I had the opportunity to read Blueberry summer, the Prequel in which Cass, then kind of chubby, meets and falls for Adam--a college man headed for med school. Her interest in him inspires Cass to lose a little weight--even though Adam seems to appreciate the "Inner" Cass all along. So in this book, Cass, all slim and attractive, is set up to enjoy her senior "fabulous" year. She is slim, attractive, has a "college man" boyfriend--life is good. She is ready to be accepted by the "In" crowd--and she is--but Cass's life---like reality--isn't patently simple. I teach in a high school and just got one child through the experience and have another who is a junior. A lot of what was true about that age 30 years ago is still true. Very little changes in the adolescent experience. I don't know what happened to my copy of this book, but I'll certainly buy another if the opportunity presents itself--if only for nostalgia purposes. I want to see if it is as good as I remember.