Memories of Summer

Author:  Ruth White
Title:  Memories of Summer
Illustrator:  n/a
Genre:  Realistic Fiction
SubGenre:  Children's Chapter book
Theme:  Family, Mental Illness
Primary & Secondary Characters: Summer (Primary) & Lyric, Poppy (Secondary)
Date of Publication:  2000
Award(s):  none
Publisher:  Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Summary:  This chapter book is about two sisters, Summer and Lyric and their father who they call Poppy. Its set in the 1950s and they move to Flint, Michigan where their father hopes to get a job in the automobile industry. Lyric is younger and always looked up to her pretty, popular older sister Summer. After they move, Summer begins to change drastically, she becomes remote, makes up weird words, talks to imaginary people, scratches her face, and stops going to school. Lyric and her father try to deal with Summer's strange behavior, but have to take to her a doctor where she is diagnosed with schizophrenia. This is a good book for students to read because it touches on all different kinds of emotions and explores the world of mental illness.