This book was a little on the boring side. There wasn't anything that really drew me in and the story was pretty much cookie cutter bullying. I didn't really identify with any of the characters and I was about half way in when I realized that nothing was going to happen and this was almost a PSA on bullying.

It did make me think about my experiences with the issue, but aside from that, there wasn't much meat to the book at all. At times it felt more like YA with a preachy message. ( )

Poor writing, flat and unrealistic characters, are the main detractors of this book. The plot was slow and predictable. And there are no 14 year old girls out there who think and speak like the main teenagers in this book. Skip this book. ( )

LAST SUMMER Holly Chamberlin
This is a story about bullying and it's everywhere these days. The grandmother bus monitor in NY was bullied and when others found out, via YouTube, people around the world donated money for her and her cause to stop bullying.
Rosie and her family, mom and dad live next door to Meg and her younger brother and parents.
Rosie and Meg are lifetime friends but Meg to fit in socially at school told another female Rosie's secret and then everybody in school knew and everybody shunned her.
Things get really bad til her parents find out then the parents are no longer friends with each other-the female heads of the families are also lifetime friends.
Medical issues arise and many secrets. Love the part about diaries and journals and the 'talking doctor' Rosie goes to.
The girls try to work their way around things to get back to what they once had.
When the community suffers again from another bullying attack they arise to meet and start a club that they hope will help others.
I liked the book and what it stands for.
Some kids today I find so mean to others their age and that they have no respect of older people. Hope things can change for them, make it a more peaceful world we can live in.
At time I found it very difficult to continue reading this book as the hurt was put there by just others words. Glad I did get to the end, i Looked forward to it ending in what I hoped would not be death.
Super loved reading about the different locations in Portland Maine. we do travel there at least once a year. ( )

Last Summer is about a lovely, well-mannered, sensitive, and intelligent 14-year-old girl, Rosie Patterson, and her experience of being the victim of bullying at her high school by a small group of mean girls. It changes voices throughout so you get the inside perspective from Rosie and her mother, Jane, Rosie's best friend, Meg, and her mother, Frannie. You get the full story of what happened to Rosie through reading her journal entries and a lot of flashbacks while the others are mired in their respective guilt and gloom.

This was hard for me to get through for two reasons:

1) There was no relief from everyone's depression. You could see the downward direction of Rosie's initially bubbly spirit to her confusion, embarrassment, utter mortification, sadness, loneliness, anger, etc. Her best friend, Meg, was dealing with her own guilt of betraying a friend's secret and being part of the bullying, as well as dealing with her own sadness and insecurities of having a negligent father. Frannie and Jane had their own issues in their lives to work through, i.e. emotional baggage and mother guilt. Not to make light of a serious and important subject, but this whole book really was quite a downer.

2) The style of the writing was kind of annoying to me. I think it may have been too descriptive which just made the book drag. Things like describing what everything looked like on the walk to the front door to answer the doorbell. A lot of extra stuff that didn't add to the story in my opinion. Unless (light bulb moment) the author was trying to make us feel as depressed as they all were so that we felt sluggish reading the book. :)

I was enlightened by reading Rosie's journal entries because it helped me understand somewhat the inside workings of the minds of the severely depressed. Rosie declined to the point of self-harming. Rosie did not attempt suicide although I think if things hadn't come to light she would have been headed in that direction which made me think of how easily bullying can lead to such drastic measures.

I knew a couple of young people (straight-A students, popular, genuinely well-liked, good athletes/musicians, etc.) who surprised everyone by committing suicide. It didn't make sense to me how they could function "normally" in their daily lives without anyone having a clue how difficult life had become for them. This story helped clarify that for me. I hope that families and friends of people who have (or had) loved ones suffering from depression can find some comfort in this book and recognition that you may not always see the signs.

I think this would be more effective designated as a novel for Young Adults and probably would be a good book for parents to have their middle/high school kids read. ( )

This is the story of a beautiful,sensitive teen girl, who becomes the target of bullying by mean girls at her high school and is then betrayed by her best friend/next door neighbor. It deals with the fallout of bullying for all of it's victims, including the former best friend/betrayer,the parents involved, and how difficult it is to move beyond that to wholeness again in relationships. This is a very worthwhile read for teens and adults. ( )