Mine! and: Sixteenth Summer (review)

See this month's Big Picture, p. 507, for review.

Life on Dune Island off the coast of Georgia may seem idyllic to outsiders, but it's confining for Anna, who longs for the day when she can leave. It's even worse this summer because her two best friends, Caroline and Sam, have become a couple, leaving her as a fifth wheel. At the annual start-of-summer bonfire, however, she sees Will, a stranger, and everything changes. First love blossoms for both of them as Anna shares her island home with Will, who happens to be from Anna's own fantasy island—Manhattan. Will is enchanted with everything Anna has come to take for granted, including the stable support of an intact, loving family, and their summer is full of bike rides, walks on the beach, family picnics, turtle watching, and fireworks. As the summer progresses, however, Anna's self-protective instincts threaten to ruin their romance as the thought of Will's leaving at the end of summer makes her pull back. This is the quintessential romantic summer fantasy, with Will everything a girl could want—handsome, slightly awkward and inexperienced with girls but friendly and wide open when it comes to his feelings. Anna has her own qualities as well—she's smart and sensitive, and she's a dab hand at creating new ice-cream flavors for her family's business. Indeed, the sensual pleasures of imagining what those flavors would taste like—Sticky Toffee Pudding Pop, Pineapple Ginger Ale, Peanut Butter Crisp—provides as good a simile as any for the reading experience here; the romance is as wholesome and fulfilling as a well-stuffed waffle cone, with no sexual angst or dark secrets, just the floaty happiness of first love with a few mix-ins to give it a richer texture. Readers will want to pack this one in their beach bags, or curl up with it in a hammock for a staycation; it's perfect for summer reading and dreaming.