Memories of Summer

By Ruth White

By the author of the Newbery Honor book Belle Prater's Boy

It is the mid-1950s, and Lyrics familys dream is finally coming true -- they are moving from the backwoods of southwest Virginia to Flint, Michigan, where her father hopes to get an assembly-line job for a car manufacturer. Thirteen-year-old Lyric has always been close to and admired her older sister, Summer, who is pretty and popular. But in their new hometown, Summer unexpectedly and drastically changes. She becomes remote, speaks gibberish, stops taking care of her appearance, wont go to high school, and then seems to have hallucinations. Lyric and her father try to cope with the devastating effects of Summers mental illness, but, sadly, there is no bringing the old Summer back. Ruth White has written a heart-wrenching novel which, despite the sad and serious subject matter, offers readers humor and hope and most of all love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Apr 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9781429936583

Ruth White

Ruth White was born and raised in the 1940s and 1950s in and around the coal-mining town of Whitewood, Virginia. "My fondest memories are of playing in the hills and creeks, and of family read-alouds, which we had almost every day. Before I started school, I knew that I would be a writer someday, and I never wavered from that goal. What I did not know was that I would be writing about those days in which I was living. I had visions of stories involving princesses and swashbuckling heroes, lovesick cowgirls and faraway places with strange-sounding names. It was only after I grew up and away from the Appalachian region that I realized what a wealth of unique story material I had stored up in my memories during those early years, and therein lay my greatest asset as a writer." "My sisters and I were not only avid readers but also great mimics. We had no television, but we had the movie theaters close by, and we were privileged to see the latest movies from Hollywood, which we would later act out to one another. We would write down all the lines we could remember from a good movie and learn them for our own entertainment. We also picked up every song that came along and developed a remarkable repertoire of folk, country, blue-grass, spiritual, and popular music. To this day we know the words to thousands of forgotten songs. We are a wealth of music trivia! I often use the lyrics of some of these songs in my books." "Upon graduation from high school, I had a rare opportunity to go to college. It was almost as if the fates took over for me at this point and manipulated me right into a good education and preparation for a future career. There was a beautiful little college down in North Carolina called Montreat, which I still dream about and think of sometimes with a feeling much like homesickness. Going there was a turning point of my life. It lifted me out of the only life I had ever known and introduced me to a wider world. From there I went on to Pfeiffer College, married, had a child, and settled down to being a mother and teacher." "But the memories of the hills did not leave me. They did, in fact, haunt me, so that I began writing down some of those memories, and from these writings my novels sprouted, took root, and grew like living plants. They have gone through many revisions, on paper as well as in my mind, but what they represent for me is a record not only of my past but of the Appalachian region." "It is important to me that the children of today read these books and feel they can escape for just a little while into another place and time which once was very real. I want them not only to enjoy my stories and my particular style but also to feel what I used to feel when I was in the habit of reading every book I could find -- 'This feels right. I love this. Someday I will write books like this.' " Ruth White holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and Library Science. She worked in schools as both a teacher and a librarian in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia before moving to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where she writes full time.

Reviews for Memories of Summer

[bduke_15 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I gave this book 5 stars because it was simply.....amazing! Did I like it? Can you like something that rips your heart out? That makes you cry so much you have to take your contacts out? This author really speaks to me. Her writing grips me. Her words stay with me. I am a better person for having read this. I don't think I will ever look at mental illness the same way again. Now I will think of the families in the background, struggling to hold on to that person they love, even though it's not the same person anymore. There is a part towards the end that is so powerful, where Lyric (the little sister who is the voice of the book) goes through so many emotions - embarrassment, humiliation, anger - before she remembers the love she has for this sister who took care of her and always loved her. Oh gosh, I'm crying again just thinking about it. I highly recommend this book to adults and teenagers, but I'm not sure about children. And now I have to go look at one of those Youtube videos where a baby is laughing at tearing paper or something.

[meggyweg · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Schizophrenia is a weighty topic, especially for children, but Ruth White handled the subject with great sensitivity. I would highly recommend this book to people who are trying to educate under-12s about mental illness -- with the caveat that the outlook for schizophrenics is better than it was in the 1950s at the time this book was set. Side issues in the book -- homesickness and racial prejudice, for example -- are handled well without sounding artificial or intruding into the story too much.

[ermsmediacenter · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In 1955, thirteen-year-old Lyric finds her whole life changing when her family moves from the hills of Virginia to a town in Michigan and her older sister Summer begins descending into mental illness.

[vortega_35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a moving story of a family that has struggled through many of life's trials. The main character, Lyric Compton, has a distinct voice that speaks knowingly and honestly about the ravages of mental illness. Summer, Lyric's older sister, has always had her peculiar ways but at sixteen she is becoming increasingly delusional and detached from life. The book will appeal to middle and high school readers because of the length of the book, only 135 pages, the plain spoken dialogue and a plot that doesn't get mired in despair.