Belly remembers the summer that solidified their friendship: Susannah was battling breast cancer, and Belly comforted Jeremiah one day when they overheard their mothers arguing about how Susannah was choosing to manage her illness. During the film, Jeremiah smiles at Belly, and she suddenly feels he wants to kiss her, which is surprising to Belly because she and Jeremiah have always been strictly friends. Unable to stomach the romantic comedy, Steven leaves after a few minutes, while Jeremiah offers to stay with Belly and gets them snacks. The first real indication that something is different between Belly and Jeremiah comes when they go to the movies together. Belly explains that her parents are divorced, which is partly why she loves the beach so much because it gives her an escape from her regular life. Belly’s brother, Steven, will also have a short-lived stay at the beach this year, as he plans to leave early to go on a college tour with their father. Fisher, Susannah’s husband, is notably absent, citing work issues. Again, she senses a distinct change in Conrad’s behavior and overall mood but notes that her feelings for Conrad and his effect on her remain the same.Ĭonrad is not the only thing different at Cousins Beach this year. Sneaking downstairs to go swimming after dark because she can’t sleep, Belly is surprised to re-surface and find Conrad sitting at the pool, smoking a cigarette and watching her. On her first night at the house, Belly and Conrad share a moment. This summer, she notices that both boys have done some growing up: Jeremiah looks leaner and broader from football, while Conrad has quit football and has become more brooding and closed-off.  Belly has had a crush on the older son, Conrad, for years, while she views the younger, Jeremiah, as her best friend. Susannah has predicted since Belly’s birth that she will end up with one of her sons. When Belly and her family arrive at the Fishers’ house, she sees that both sons, Conrad and Jeremiah, notice that she has grown up in the last year, and their attention causes Belly to believe that this will be a summer she will never forget.īelly explains the history between her family and the Fishers: her mother, Laurel, and Susannah “Beck” Fisher met in college and have remained best friends ever since. This summer, however, Belly can sense that everything will be different. Growing up, Belly struggled with being the youngest and the only girl among the four kids, feeling left out or like she somehow did not belong.  Belly Conklin and her family have spent every summer of her life with her mother’s best friend’s family at their house at Cousins Beach.

The summer i turned pretty book cover

She is the only character whose story is told in the first person. Having access to the mother’s perspective makes her at once more human and scarier. There is a chapter in particular where this is shown so chillingly and realistically that I doubt I’ll ever forget it. Donna Jo Napoli does not shy away from showing the effects of this imprisonment and isolation on the mind of the young girl. Zel is kept in the tower for two years, completely isolated except for her mother’s daily one hour visits. Konrad due to his obsession with Zel, the mother due to fear and guilt, Zel due to the effects of isolation. At the start of the book, the tone is simple, even light, but it grows increasingly dark and becomes downright disturbing as each of the main characters deals with a different kind of madness.  As a result of this, her mother locks her away in a tower.ĭonna Jo Napoli uses multiple points of view to tell this story: the mother’s, Zel’s and Konrad’s (the young Count). After that visit, Zel begins to show some interested in the boy, portraying him in her pictures. During that time, Zel soothes the horse of a young count who comes to the smithy, and the young man takes a liking to her. Zel’s mother leaves her alone in the smithy for a while, so that she may get her a surprise birthday present. Shortly before her thirteenth birthday, they go to the market in a nearby town. Zel is a happy child with a great fondness for animals and a talent for drawing.  Zel and her mother live alone in an isolated mountain house. This retelling of “Rapunzel” takes place in sixteenth century Switzerland.

Green Arrow, Vol. 2 by Kevin Smith