Is there anything more exciting than a summer friendship? From summer camp to vacation houses to summer jobs, kids have lots of opportunities to make friends outside of school in the summer. In Paul Mosier’s latest middle grade novel, Summer and July, twelve year old Juillet, which is French for July, travels from Michigan to Santa Monica for the month of July with her mother who has work there. When she first arrives, she is in a bit of a funk, convinced this will be the worst summer ever. Her father has run away with a younger woman, she’s not allowed to talk to her only friend back home because of a lie, and her irrational fears are magnified in this new setting.
Juillet is afraid of the number three, flying in a plane, and anything out of her comfort zone. She knows she won’t see her mother that often because of her job (just like at home), and fears she’s “within reach of sharks and tsunamis” in California. But then she meets Summer. Summer is a free-spirited surfer girl with a joy for life that is infectious. Juillet is amazed this beautiful and cool girl wants to be her friend, especially when she wears goth makeup and black clothes that usually keep people away. But she does. From the very first day when she calls her Betty, which is surfer slang for attractive surfer girl, Summer shows her around her Santa Monica neighborhood and encourages her to overcome her fears. Slowly, “Betty” comes out of her shell and gradually stops wearing her Goth armor. She boogie boards in the surf, goes to a party at the Big Kahuna’s, and hangs out at the local ice cream shop where cool fellow surfer Otis works.
It turns out that Summer has a secret of her own and is not as happy as she appears. Her beloved older brother was in an accident and is in a coma, slowly wasting away. Summer has been showing Juillet what she loves about her neighborhood to take her mind off of what’s happening at home. When Juillet learns the truth, she wants to do everything to help her new friend.
I loved how the story captured the sweet significance and intensity of summer friendships at this age. Even though they have just met, they become fast friends who trust each other and spend all of their short time together. When Juillet realizes towards the end of her stay that she likes Summer as more than a friend, and her affection is reciprocated, the relationship is treated matter-of-factly and with respect. Juillet still has some insecurities, but by the end has grown and blossomed into a girl ready for more adventures.
The setting of Dogtown plays a starring role in this story, too. Aside from Dude: Fun With Dude and Betty by Lisa Pliscou, a gnarly Dick and Jane type early reader, I haven’t read any books that take place in a California beach town filled with surfers. You can practically smell the onion rings and sunscreen with the author’s beach descriptions. And though I have never been here, I got a real sense of what the neighborhood is like and the characters who live there. From cool Otis who gives impromptu yoga lessons in between scooping ice cream, to the lifeguards who all know Summer, to the Beachcombers; a community group that picks up trash on the beach that Juillet reluctantly helps. As Summer explains:
This is about paying our respects to the ocean, and the surf gods. This is just part of the deal.
And I loved learning about surfer culture along with Juilet, or should I say, Betty. When she gets crushed by a wave while trying to surf, she is sent to “the hack shack” or the emergency room. When the doctor (who turns out to be her mother) asks what happened, she says:
I went over the falls and got drilled. Swallowed a Neptune cocktail.
Summer and July is the perfect beach read about the joys of a new friendship despite the challenges at home and things beyond your control. And it’s a celebration of surfer culture and sunny California. A wave may knock you down, but your new friend will help you get back up to surf another day.
