When I first started reading THAT SUMMER, I really had no idea at all what to expect. Avid readers with opinions I trust have always recommended Sarah Dessen's novels to me, declaring that she is the ultimate queen of realistic young adult fiction. At the same time, the description of this particular work did not necessarily sound all that intriguing -- a girl finds her sister's boyfriend and comes to new realizations about the past? Okay, then what? 
 But, Dessen had such a way of creating realistic, relateable characters that really got me drawn into their universe in such a way that I really felt like these people would be people I know in my own life. I felt so invested in the story and I was sad to see the book end as I got closer and closer to the last page. 
 Basically, this is the story of an awkward teenage girl named Haven who is experiencing a summer of tremendous changes that force her to reevaluate the way she views others in her life. Haven's parents have recently separated and her father is marrying the young weather girl that captured his interest while he was still married. Haven's older sister is also getting married this year, which will leave Haven and her mother alone in the home for the first time ever. 
 Haven's sister, Ashley, is being a complete bridezilla as the wedding grows closer, taking out her frustrations on both her mother and her younger sister. Haven gets a job at the mall where she runs into Sumner, Ashley's old boyfriend who really seemed to change everything during that one summer that he accompanied Haven's family to the beach. Sumner was just so wonderful and understanding -- and he seemed to bring the family together in a way that was nothing less than remarkable. He made Ashley happy, which in turn made Sumner happy, until the day that Haven overheard that last day of their relationship. Ashley broke Sumner's heart, and things were never the same since he left. 
 Now, nobody seems quite as happy and the summer is further away than ever. But, as Haven starts to spend more time with Sumner, she starts to feel more alive again, as if he as reawakened a missing spark in her life. Haven almost forgets that she has always felt so out of place, being almost 6 feet tall in her teens, awkwardly towering over her classmates. She almost forgets that she may be forced to move away and start again at another school -- that her best friend has become a stranger with a boyfriend and a new habit for smoking -- that her sister has turned into a monster in anticipation of her big day -- that her father has left the family for a woman barely old enough to be called stepmother. Sumner makes things feel right and he makes Haven feel more confident in herself and her position in life. Why did Ashley ever let this boy get away? 
 Things explode the day before Ashley's wedding, resulting in Haven running away from home and getting herself lost, in a storm, in the woods without any idea how to find her way home She soon comes to realize the truth about what happened between Ashley and Sumner, which forces her to reexamine her views of her older sister. Can Haven come to terms with all of the changes that have fallen in her lap this summer, and maybe manage to make it a summer to remember? 
 I definitely will be reading more from Dessen and I can't wait to see what other characters and journeys she will take me through next!