The summer I learned to fly

My favorite Dana Reinhardt book is still A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life. However, all her books are good reading. In The Summer I Learned to Fly, thirteen-year-old Drew (formerly named Robin) is helping her mother in their cheese shop in Central California. Each night she puts left over

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cheese and rolls outside the back of the store and each morning it is gone. One afternoon she meets the person consuming the morsels--Emmet Crane. And Emmet Crane changes her life.

The Summer I Learned to Fly is Drew's coming of age. She learns about her father who died when she was three from his book of lists. She learns about friendship from Emmet. She learns about love from her mother and from Nick, the guy who makes fresh made pasta in her mother's cheese store. It is a summer where Drew steps out of the boundaries of the good little girl and spreads her wings.

Reinhardt's writing and story are always enticing. The characters are fun, including Hum, the rat, given to Drew by Swoozie, a relocated Wisconsinite who plopped herself and her Porsche down in central California. I read the book in October but it's a great summer read.

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A thoughtful, unusual read. Drew is a loner looking for a close friend, but doesn't take many risks. Emmett is looking for a miracle and has taken a big risk. When they find each other, things start to change. Drew starts to defy her mother, looking for spontaneity and freedom. I loved Drew's

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relationship with surfer Nick, and Nick's strength after a bad accident. This is a good young teen read.

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The story of a young girl (Birdie, Robin, Drew) and the runaway she meets and helps. Her mom owns a cheese shop, she has a pet rat, her dad passed away and she reads his book of lists that he made. The runaway, Emmet Crane is looking for a miracle in the form a a native american legend so that he

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can get the miracle that will save his family.

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In this teen novel, thirteen-year-old Drew is looking forward to a summer of working in her mother's new cheese shop, spending time with nineteen-year old Nick. But then Nick gets a girlfriend, and her mother doesn't seem to have time for her. Drew spends more time with Emmett Crane, a mysterious

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boy who also loves both cheese and her pet rat, Hum. She begins to pull away from her mother, as she is drawn into Emmett's story. Emmett becomes Drew's first true friend and she must decide what she is willing to risk for that friendship. This is a story about beginning to grow up, having something to believe in, and friendship.

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Drew decides after finding her father's journal that is time for her to take a risk and try to find out about who she is.

I really thought this one had a shot at the Newbery.

This is a YA book that seemed to drag. Girl meets boy. Boy is secretive, which makes girl want him even more.

The girl and mother live together, both holding secrets regarding their new-found relationships.

I finished this, but can't recommend it.

Teen/middle-grade fiction; coming of age making friends with homeless runaway dealing with dead dad you never knew mom possibly dating someone new (not really that much of a worry, only wish she wouldn't lie about it) mom's business possibly failing (except that it doesn't). This story had likeable

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characters and a couple of great lines (note left by Emmett after long, unexplained absence: "I want to be your friend, but I'm afraid I don't know how.") but other than that not all that memorable.

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