The Edge of Summer

by Erica George

Overview

Fans of Sarah Dessen and Morgan Matson will be swept away by this big-hearted novel about one girl navigating first loss and first love during a summer on Cape Cod.

Saving the whales has been Coriander Cabot and her best friend Ella’s dream since elementary school. But when tragedy strikes, Cor is left to complete the list of things they wanted to accomplish before college alone, including a marine biology internship on Cape Cod.

Cor's summer of healing and new beginnings turns complicated when she meets Mannix, a local lifeguard who completely takes her breath away. But she knows whatever she has with Mannix might not last, and that her focus should be on rescuing the humpback whales from entanglement. As the tide changes, Cor finds herself distracted and struggling with her priorities.

Can she follow her heart and keep her promise to the whales and her best friend?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316496766
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	06/14/2022
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	312,679
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Erica George is the author of Words Composed of Sea and Sky. She resides in northern New Jersey, but spends her summers soaking up the salty sea air on Cape Cod. She invites you to follow her at ericageorgewrites.com or on Twitter @theericageorge.

Editorial Reviews

06/27/2022

Eighteen-year-old New Jersey native Coriander Cabot and her late best friend Ella have dreamed of saving the whales since elementary school. To keep Ella’s memory alive, Cor pursues their shared goals—among them, getting tattoos, seeing a Harry Styles concert, and spending the summer before senior year interning at the Cape Cod Marine Research and Conservation Alliance. Cor, who’s staying with her uncle and his boyfriend, is both excited for the opportunity and grief-stricken about doing it without Ella. Then she meets lifeguard and aspiring chef Mannix. The teens fall hard and fast for each other, crossing getting “real boyfriends” off Cor’s list. But when two crises converge, she must confront new allegiances and shifting loyalties between her and Ella’s beloved whales and her blossoming love for Mannix. Mannix’s interpersonal familial conflicts and Cor’s emotional turmoil add intensity and tension to the otherwise frothy story. While the teens’ developing relationship follows a familiar formula, the narrative’s strong ecological message and George’s (Words Composed of Sea and Sky) expertly drawn seaside setting make for a pensive summer romance. Characters cue as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Liza Fleissig, Liza Royce Agency. (June)

Publishers Weekly

06/01/2022

Gr 9 Up—Coriander "Cor" Cabot (white) and her best friend Ella (race not stated) have always been fascinated with whales and had planned to attend a marine biologist internship together before college. However, Ella's tragic death in the sea the summer before has left Cor to complete their shared bucket list on her own. Cor spends her summer internship on Cape Cod with the hope of saving the humpback whales as a promise to Ella. However, her priorities are put into question when she meets handsome local lifeguard, Mannix (white), who unexpectedly sweeps her off her feet. Over the course of the summer, Cor must come to terms with her grief and regret and decide if she's willing to embrace the opportunity for first love along with other possibilities. George's personal passion for whales and other marine life is evident in this coming-of-age story that sheds light on how these creatures suffer at the hands of humans. The author brings awareness to a younger audience by intertwining it with the realistic transitional period between high school and college that young adults typically experience. Also, through the creation of some diverse and compassionate characters, she produces a heartfelt story that demonstrates the power kindness and acceptance can have on a person. VERDICT This is a great beachy YA romance that is perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han.—Lacey Webster

School Library Journal

2022-03-29
Romance and grief mingle over the course of a summer.

Coriander Cabot and her best friend, Ella Ridgewood, were always passionate about saving whales. In the wake of Ella’s tragic drowning, Cor is left to finish what the two of them started, and the first step is a summer marine biology internship on Cape Cod. It isn’t long before Cor meets Mannix Reilly, the sexy local lifeguard who leaves her head spinning and her heart thumping. Cor struggles to balance this new relationship against honoring the unfinished business of her old friendship and working toward her future ambitions. Tides turn, Cor gets flustered, and readers will struggle to engage with a narrative that has all the right pieces of the machinery but never quite aligns them properly to get things moving. Characters revolve around one another, but the narrative urgency never kicks in, and the cast members are not sufficiently developed to be compelling. Readers will yearn to empathize with Cor, but she doesn’t express herself in ways that will foster that deeper connection. Mannix is handsome, kind, and thoughtful but similarly underdeveloped; the pair never fully click, and instead they are just pushed together as the plot dictates. The teens are White.

A picturesque setting and intriguing premise that don’t quite coalesce. (Fiction. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews

"Reading The Edge of Summer feels like spreading your arms wide and letting the summer sun warm your face and the wind off the ocean almost lift you off the ground. A gorgeous, evocative story of love, friendship, new beginnings, and navigating the valley of grief."—Jeff Zentner, Morris Award-winning author of The Serpent King and In the Wild Light

"The feeling of summer transformed into a heartwarming book that is a love letter to Cape Cod, whales, and the beauty of life."—Crystal Maldonado, author of No Filter and Other Lies and Fat Chance, Charlie Vega

"A heartfelt story that demonstrates the power kindness and acceptance can have on a person.... This is a great beachy YA romance that is perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han."—SLJ

"The narrative’s strong ecological message and George’s Words (Composed of Sea and Sky) expertly drawn seaside setting make for a pensive summer romance."—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher