Summer Bird Blue

Written by Akemi Dawn Bowman

Narrated by Em Eldridge

Rumi Seto spends a lot of time worrying she doesn't have the answers to everything. What to eat, where to go, whom to love. But there is one thing she is absolutely sure of-she wants to spend the rest of her life writing music with her younger sister, Lea.

Then Lea dies in a car accident, and her mother sends her away to live with her aunt in Hawaii while she deals with her own grief. Now thousands of miles from home, Rumi struggles to navigate the loss of her sister, being abandoned by her mother, and the absence of music in her life. With the help of the “boys next door”-a teenage surfer named Kai, who smiles too much and doesn't take anything seriously, and an eighty-year-old named George Watanabe, who succumbed to his own grief years ago-Rumi attempts to find her way back to her music, to write the song she and Lea never had the chance to finish.

Aching, powerful, and unflinchingly honest, Summer Bird Blue explores big truths about insurmountable grief, unconditional love, and how to forgive even when it feels impossible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Sep 11, 2018
• ISBN: 9781541448759

Akemi Dawn Bowman

Akemi Dawn Bowman is a critically acclaimed author who writes across genres. Her novels have received multiple accolades and award nominations, and her debut novel, Starfish, was a William C. Morris Award Finalist. She has a BA in social sciences from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and currently lives in Scotland with her husband and two children. She overthinks everything, including this bio. Visit Akemi online at AkemiDawnBowman.com, or on Instagram @AkemiDawnBowman.

Reviews for Summer Bird Blue

[Tiffani Smith · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is a very real exploration of grief and grieving. When Lea dies, Rumi is left to process her grief on her own after her mom ships her off to Hawaii with her aunt. If you want a book to hit you in the feels, I recommend this one.

[electrascaife · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A teen girl loses her sister in a car accident and is sent to Hawaii to stay with her aunt while her mother deals with the loss of her youngest daughter. Rumi works through her grief and anger while making new friends and trying to find her own voice as he redefines her life without her best friend and sister.It's a little slow to get going - the first third is a bit heavy on Rumi's angst, although that's also understandable, I guess - but it deals well with responding to loss as such a young age. Overall I enjoyed it.

[kevn57-163679 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was an interesting read for me, as an only child I I learned something about the range of emotion that Rumi had as she started to work through her grief for a sibling that she felt so close to. Something that I'll never experience. On top of that Rumi is the first character that I ever read about that was asexual and watching her work her way at least partially through that was eye opening.

[violetbramble · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Rumi and Lea are teen aged sisters who write songs together. Rum plays piano and Lea plays guitar. One day they and their mother are in a car accident. Lea is killed. Unable to handle her grief Rumi's mother sends Rumi to stay with her aunt in Hawaii. Lost in grief and feeling abandoned by her mother, Rumi becomes angry and lashes out at those around her. She feels compelled to complete the last song that she and Lea were writing. Every time she tries to play music her grief comes flooding back and overwhelms her. Eventually Rumi makes friends in Hawaii and they are slowly able to help her reconnect to music, dare to make changes in her life and, start to come to terms with her asexuality. Earlier in the month I read Bowman's first book, Starfish. In that book she ended each chapter with a one or two sentence quirky description of the art that the main character was drawing or painting. In this book she does the same with with the music that Rumi listens to with her neighbor. It might not have been a good idea to read these two books so close together. I couldn't help comparing them. Both feature a teen girl dealing with her own mental health issues as well as the mental health issues of family members. Both girls get help from a male friend with their own very intense family issues. Both girls are away from home. I much preferred the story and characters in Starfish. I also thought that Summer Bird Blue dragged in the middle and could have been a shorter book.

[edgoldberg · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lea is Rumi's sister, best friend and song writing partner. When Lea is killed in an auto accident (both Rumi and their mother were in the car as well), Rumi's world falls apart. Instead of comforting Rumi, her mother sends her to Hawaii to live with her aunt, who she barely knew, causing Rumi to think she lost both a mother and a sister. It also confirms her thought that her mother liked Lea better, because she was nicer, happier and more fun.Rumi befriends the old man living next door to Auntie Ani who has his own baggage. She also meets of group of kids her age. All of these people aid in Rumi's grieving and coming to terms with Lea's death. They also pave the way for Rumi to finish the song she and Lea started before the fatal accident.While Summer Bird Blue is a good book dealing with death and healing, the reason I only gave it 3 1/2 stars is because Rumi, who is seventeen, comes across as a twelve or thirteen year old. So it was hard to picture her as she was supposed to be. Plus the book would have been better about 50 pages shorter. Despite these criticisms, Summer Bird Blue is still worth reading.

[dknight0918 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Gorgeous cover, I enjoyed this one but I loved Starfish more. I enjoyed the setting of Hawaii and the Hawaiian Pidgin. Rumi is not my fave character but she grew on me. Kari was my fave in this book. So ready for Harley in the Sky.