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Summer Sisters: A Novel Paperback – May 27, 2003
| Judy Blume (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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In the summer of 1977, Victoria Leonard’s world changes forever when Caitlin Somers chooses her as a friend. Dazzling, reckless Caitlin welcomes Vix into the heart of her sprawling, eccentric family, opening doors to a world of unimaginable privilege, sweeping her away to vacations on Martha’s Vineyard, an enchanting place where the two friends become “summer sisters.”
Now, years later, Vix is working in New York City. Caitlin is getting married on the Vineyard. And the early magic of their long, complicated friendship has faded. But Caitlin begs Vix to come to her wedding, to be her maid of honor. And Vix knows that she will go—because she wants to understand what happened during that last shattering summer. And, after all these years, she needs to know why her best friend—her summer sister—still has the power to break her heart.
Praise for Summer Sisters
“Compulsively readable . . . [Blume’s] powers are prodigious.”—The New York Times Book Review
“As warm as a summer breeze blowing through your hair, as nostalgic as James Taylor singing ‘How Sweet It Is.’ You remember. So does Judy Blume. How sweet it was.”—Chicago Tribune
“An exceptionally moving story that can leave the reader laughing and crying . . . sometimes at the same time . . . Blume creates a rich tapestry of characters.”—The Denver Post
“Blume’s characters still tend to hover after the book is set aside. . . . She catches perfectly the well-armored love between longtime female friends.”—The Seattle Times
- Print length399 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBantam
- Publication dateMay 27, 2003
- Dimensions5.17 x 0.86 x 8.24 inches
- ISBN-100385337663
- ISBN-13978-0385337663
"The Venice Sketchbook?" by Rhys Bowen
“Rhys Bowen crafts a propulsive, unexpected plot with characters who come vibrantly alive on the page.” ―Mark Sullivan, author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky | Learn more
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“As warm as a summer breeze blowing through your hair, as nostalgic as James Taylor singing ‘How Sweet It Is.’ You remember. So does Judy Blume. How sweet it was.”—Chicago Tribune
“An exceptionally moving story that can leave the reader laughing and crying . . . sometimes at the same time . . . Blume creates a rich tapestry of characters.”—The Denver Post
“Blume’s characters still tend to hover after the book is set aside. . . . She catches perfectly the well-armored love between longtime female friends.”—The Seattle Times
From the Back Cover
When Victoria Leonard answers the phone in her Manhattan office, Caitlin's voice catches her by surprise. Vix hasn't talked to her oldest friend in months. Caitlin's news takes her breath away--and Vix is transported back in time, back to the moment she and Caitlin Somers first met, back to the casual betrayals and whispered confessions of their long, complicated friendship, back to the magical island where two friends became summer sisters.
Caitlin dazzled Vix from the start, sweeping her into the heart of the unruly Somers family, into a world of privilege, adventure, and sexual daring. Vix's bond with her summer family forever reshapes her ties to her own, opening doors to opportunities she had never imagined--until the summer she falls passionately in love. Then, in one shattering moment on a moonswept Vineyard beach, everything changes, exposing a dark undercurrent in her extraordinary friendship with Caitlin that will haunt them through the years.
As their story carries us from Santa Fe to Martha's Vineyard, from New York to Venice, we come to know the men and women who shape their lives. And as we follow the two women on the paths they each choose, we wait for the inevitable reckoning to be made in the fine spaces between friendship and betrayal, between love and freedom.
"Summer Sisters is a riveting exploration of the choices that define our lives, of friendship andlove, of the families we are born into and those we struggle to create. For every woman who has ever had a friend too dangerous to forgive and too essential to forget, "Summer Sisters will glue you to every page, reading and remembering.
Judy Blume's twenty-one books have sold over sixty-five million copies worldwide and have been translated into twenty languages. She spends summers on Martha's Vineyard with her family.
"From the Hardcover edition.
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Summer 1990
The city is broiling in an early summer heat wave and for the third day in a row Victoria buys a salad from the Korean market around the corner and has lunch at her desk. Her roommate, Maia, tells her she's risking her life eating from a salad bar. If the bacteria don't get you, the preservatives will. Victoria considers this as she chomps on a carrot and scribbles notes to herself on an upcoming meeting with a client who's looking for a PR firm with an edge. Everyone wants edge these days. You tell them it's edgy, they love it.
When the phone rings she grabs it, expecting a call from the segment producer at Regis and Kathie Lee. "This is Victoria Leonard," she says, sounding solid and professional.
"Vix?"
She's surprised to hear Caitlin's voice on the other end and worries for a minute it's bad news, because Caitlin calls only at night, usually late, often waking her from a deep sleep. Besides, it's been a couple of months since they've talked at all.
"You have to come up," Caitlin says. She's using her breathy princess voice, the one she's picked up in Europe, halfway between Jackie O's and Princess Di's. "I'm getting married at Lamb's house on the Vineyard."
"Married?"
"Yes. And you have to be my Maid of Honor. It's only appropriate, don't you think?"
"I guess that depends on who you're marrying."
"Bru," Caitlin answers, and suddenly she sounds like herself again. "I'm marrying Bru. I thought you knew."
Victoria forces herself to swallow, to breathe, but she feels clammy and weak anyway. She grabs the cold can of Diet Coke from the corner of her desk and holds it against her forehead, then moves it to her neck, as she jots down the date and time of the wedding. She doodles all around it while Caitlin chats, until the whole page is filled with arrows, crescent moons, and triangles, as if she's back in sixth grade.
"Vix?" Caitlin says. "Are you still there? Do we have a bad connection or what?"
"No, it's okay."
"So you'll come?"
"Yes." The second she hangs up she makes a mad dash for the women's room where she pukes her guts out in the stall. She has to call Caitlin back, tell her there's no way she can do this. What can Caitlin be thinking? What was she thinking when she agreed?
Four weeks later Caitlin, her hair flying in the wind, meets Victoria at the tiny Vineyard airport. Victoria is the last one to step out of the commuter from LaGuardia. She'd spotted Caitlin from her window as soon as they'd landed but felt glued to her seat. It's been more than two years since they've seen each other, and three since Victoria graduated from college and got caught up in real life--a job, with just two weeks vacation a year. No money to fly around. Bummer, as Lamb would say when they were kids.
"Going on to Nantucket with us?" the flight attendant asks and suddenly Victoria realizes she's the only passenger still on the plane. Embarrassed, she grabs her bag and hustles down the steps onto the tarmac. Caitlin finds her in the crowd and waves frantically. Victoria heads toward her, shaking her head because Caitlin is wearing a T-shirt that says simplify, simplify, simplify. She's barefoot as usual and Victoria is betting her feet will be as dirty as they were that first summer.
Caitlin holds her at arm's length for a minute. "God, Vix . . ." she says, "you look so . . . grown up!" They both laugh, then Caitlin hugs her. She smells of seawater, suntan lotion, and something else. Victoria closes her eyes, breathing in the familiar scent, and for a moment it's as if they've never been apart. They're still Vixen and Cassandra, summer sisters forever. The rest is a mistake, a crazy joke.
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Product details
- Publisher : Bantam; 4/27/03 edition (May 27, 2003)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 399 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0385337663
- ISBN-13 : 978-0385337663
- Item Weight : 11.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.17 x 0.86 x 8.24 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #47,403 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #903 in Sisters Fiction
- #1,476 in Coming of Age Fiction (Books)
- #1,585 in Women's Friendship Fiction
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Judy Blume spent her childhood in Elizabeth, NJ, making up stories inside her head. She has spent her adult years in many places, doing the same thing, only now she writes her stories down on paper. Adults as well as children will recognize such Blume titles as: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret; Superfudge; Blubber; Just As Long As We're Together; and Forever. She has also written the best-selling novels Wifey; Smart Women; and, Summer Sisters. More than 75 million copies of her books have been sold, and her work has been translated into twenty-six languages.
She receives thousands of letters each month from readers of all ages who share their feelings and
concerns with her.
Judy received a B.S. in education from New York University in 1961, which named her a Distinguished Alumna in 1996, the same year that American Library Association honored her with the Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement. She has won more than ninety awards, none more important than those coming directly from her youngest readers.
She serves on the boards of the Author's Guild, currently as Vice President; the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, where she sponsors an award for contemporary fiction; and the National Coalition Against Censorship, working to protect intellectual freedom. In Spring 2002, Judy was a spokesperson for the Cheerios "A Book for Every Child" literacy campaign which benefited Reading is Fundamental, America's largest literacy organization. She is also the founder and trustee of The Kids Fund, a charitable and educational foundation.
Judy's first book in the Fudge series, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, was published in 1972. She is thrilled to be celebrating its 30th Anniversary with the publication of Double Fudge. Just as generations of fans have loved the Fudge books, generations of Judy's family have inspired them. Thirty years ago, Fudge was inspired by her son, Larry, and now Double Fudge was written at the request of her grandson, Elliot.
Judy lives on islands up and down the East Coast with her husband George Cooper. They have three grown children and one grandchild.
Customer reviews
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I grew up reading Judy Blume, but I'm no teen now. I'm in my 40s. Blume's graceful writing style never disappoints. Negative reviewers that have complained the young teens focus too much energy on their budding sexuality have obviously forgotten what it's like to be that age. In using varying viewpoints and characters narratives to tell the story, each character is well-developed from their own words and conversations as well as through the observations of others. As another reviewer astutely pointed out, Caitlin is the only one not given a voice. We only see her in the 3rd person, and I think that is intentional, as her character remains mysterious and conflicted in her motivations to the very (sad) end.
1970s- '80s Martha's Vineyard and the late 20th century in general are characters in the story as well, and Blume expresses them both very dynamically. She's writing about kids several years older than me, the "cool kids" I looked up to when I was young, and seeing inside their lives and times makes me feel I've finally caught up with them.
The love story between Vix and Bru is steamy for sure, and full of missteps that young people make. Bru's island guy local persona, tough but tender, quiet and calm, is mistaken by some reviewers as a cardboard portrait sans adequate development, but his simple straightforward demeanor should not be mistaken for lack of development. He is not a complex person. (Spoiler alert:)That's perhaps the main reason his relationship with Vix fails.
I consider this book, a fast, fun and engaging read, one of Judy Blume's best.
You’ll smile, marvel and relate to each in one way or another.
A story of a strong friendship between two different personalities with shared devotion to one another through good times and bad.
A tale of friendship, family relationships and all their complexities.
Like a first love, I still to this day will read one of her YA books (which take about 40 minutes when you're an adult ha!) for the nostalgia -
Reading an adult oriented book by her seemed odd - how do you reconcile scoliosis, getting your period, learning how to swim, etc with reading a book that was designed for grown ups -
She just nails it. I wonder how many other women in this world think like me ... That Judy had to have written this book just for me.
Von isn't a National Treasure...Judy Blume is - and this book is amazing and complicated and if you don't see a bit of yourself somewhere in it - I would be very surprised.
Top reviews from other countries
Thank you for the story that has grown with me, a story that I will never be without.
As a child I read everything you wrote and once I’d exhausted the children’s/teens section I was left heartbroken, but then my dad appeared with a book I hadn’t seen before, your third novel for adults, Summer Sisters.
My teenage self eagerly delved into the pages and before I knew it I found myself enthralled and captivated by a friendship that grew over years, I remember losing myself in the girls summers whilst laughing and crying with them.
I never realised with that first read the impact this story would have on my life, the hold these characters would have on my heart.
Every summer I am overwhelmed by the need to be reunited with your words, to visit my friends within the pages and fall in love with the story all over again.
With every read something new resonates with me, as I’ve gotten older I find myself relating to the girls at different stages and this is something that I can’t thank you enough for, the Summer Sisters will always be the story that keeps growing with me.
So Judy Blume, with all my heart I thank you for the words…










