After her parents go on the run, a teenage girl placed in the care of
a cousin she barely knows learns to trust and open up in The Melancholy
of Summer, a lyrical YA contemporary coming-of-age story by Louisa
Onomé
Doesn't she see? I can do this on my own.
Summer Uzoma is fine. Sure, her parents went on the run after they were
accused of committing a crime, leaving her behind. Sure, she's been
alternating stays with her friends' families. Sure, she sometimes still
secretly visits her old home. And sure, she has trouble talking about
any of this. But she's fine. She has her skateboard and her bus pass.
She just has to turn eighteen in a few weeks and then she'll really and
truly be free.
So it's extra annoying when a nosy social worker gets involved. Summer
doesn't expect any relative to be able to take her in, so she's very
surprised to hear that she'll now be living with her cousin Olu--someone
she hasn't seen in years, who's a famous singer in Japan last she heard,
and who's not much older than Summer.
Life with Olu is awkward for many reasons--not least of all because Olu
has her own drama to deal with. But with her cousin and friends'
efforts, maybe Summer can learn to trust people enough to let them in
again?