After Mountains Beyond Mountains, you may be looking for a light read, and Dandelion Summer is great for that. I always looked forward to climbing into bed and reading this one. It was a very readable, sweet story about an unlikely friendship that changes both people for the better. The writing was enjoyable and the characters different and fun to get to know with a little mystery to keep you intrigued. The end wrapped kind of strangely and the conclusion basically stated the moral for you which I found annoying, but the rest of the book was good enough to look past a rushed ending. You could analyze this book closely and find plenty of flaws, but it’s also a book you can just choose to sit back and enjoy. A few hard things happened to both characters, but nothing graphic. Totally clean, even for sensitive readers or teens.
Goodreads.com summary:All her life, Epiphany Salerno has been tossed like a dandelion seed on the wind. Now, at sixteen, she must move to the low-rent side of Blue Sky Hill and work where she’s not wanted: in an upscale home on The Hill.
J. Norman Alvord’s daughter has hired a teenager to stay with him in the afternoons. Widowed and suffering from heart trouble, Norman wants to be left alone. But in Epie’s presence, Norman discovers a mystery- memories of another life and a woman who saved him. As he and Epie take an unexpected road trip through sleepy Southern towns, they form a life-changing friendship-and uncover long-held family secrets.
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Frequently Asked Questions: Dandelion Summer Book Review
Is Dandelion Summer clean enough for a teenager?
Yes — completely clean, with nothing graphic. Hard things happen to both characters, but none of it is described explicitly.
Is it part of a series?
It sits loosely alongside the author’s other Blue Sky Hill books, but it reads perfectly well as a standalone.
Is the ending really that bad?
It is rushed, and it tells you the moral instead of trusting you with it. Annoying, but not enough to wreck the rest of the book.
