If I was ranking the YA books that I have read this year The Summer I Turned Pretty would be near the top. It's a quieter book than some of the fantasy stories (Graceling, Wicked Lovely, Lament, etc) or the laugh out loud books (everything by E Lockhart or Audrey, Wait) that I've read but I thought it was very well written with compelling characters who I wanted to be friends with. I like the blurb Sara Dessen has on the front cover, "This book has what every girl wants in a summer." and I completely agree. I want a summer home at the beach with built in friends who all have crushes on me because I have blossomed. I always joke that my prime was sometime back when I was 14 or 15 and that it was completely wasted because I spent the whole time being neurotic and thinking I needed to lose weight. I like that Belly realized that she had arrived with the whole prettiness thing. Not in an arrogant way but in an appreciative way.Other than wishing for all the things I've already listed this book mostly made me wish it was the summer! 24 more days to teach first grade! Hooray!
