The Brightest Stars of Summer

March 1, 2016
The Silver sisters are back on Cape Cod for another satisfying summer adventure in this sequel to The Forget-Me-Not Summer (2015). When aspiring actress Marigold's bit part in a movie is cut after she has bragged to her seventh-grade classmates, she shuns acting, commits to being merely ordinary, and lobbies her parents to send the three sisters to Pruet, Massachusetts, earlier than planned to help with Aunt Sunny's wedding preparations. Told in the alternating third-person voices of Marigold and Zinnie, and including little sister, Lily, this charming story touches on issues ranging from angst-ridden first crushes to sister crimes. Zinnie, hoping to be accepted into her school's writers group, sneaks Marigold's diary, using its contents as her submission, which leads to a brawl and the crushing of the multitiered wedding cake. All is resolved neatly in this often humorous yet thoughtful sister story. Howland nicely captures the bewilderment of young girls as they begin to mature. The girls learn the importance of being true to themselves, of helping others, and of friends and sisters. Background from the first book is interwoven aptly, allowing the sequel to stand alone; the sisters are white. Readers finding this book as pleasant as a day at the beach spent with old friends will hope the trio returns to Pruet next summer. (Fiction. 9-12)

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June 1, 2016

Gr 4-6-After her role in a movie is cut and she loses her best friend to a "cool" group, Marigold reassesses her life and decides to be "more ordinary," like her sister Zinnie. When the girls are given the opportunity to spend more time at Aunt Sunny's East Coast beach home helping her prepare for her wedding, Marigold sees it as an escape, and Zinnie as an opportunity to write more realistically and qualify for a school writing program. Marigold catches the attention of Max, a boy whom Zinnie likes, and Zinnie retaliates by reading Marigold's diary. She then tries to get her sister to be more attracted to last year's crush, Pete, while writing a story about a character much like her sister. Tensions increase when Zinnie again captures a local movie producer's attention, and the resultant spat causes a small wedding catastrophe. Like Jeanne Birdsall's The Penderwicks, this sequel to The Forget-Me-Not-Summer offers a view of a privileged summer of delicious freedom to roam, opportunity for the girls to pursue their passions, and soul-searching conducted under the watchful eyes of an understanding adult in an old-fashioned setting. VERDICT An idyllic romp filled with family, festivities, and forgiveness. Purchase where readers ate up the first book in the series or where titles like Lisa Greenwald's Welcome to Dog Beach or Kate Hannigan's The Cupcake Cousins are popular.-Karen Yingling, Blendon Middle School, Westerville, OH

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2016
Sisters Marigold, Zinnia, and Lily (The Forget-Me-Not Summer) head to Cape Cod again to stay with their aunt. After being cut from a Hollywood blockbuster, Marigold has vowed to become ordinary; aspiring writer Zinnie, in need of material, reads Marigold's diary and writes about the transformation. The ensuing fight threatens to ruin their idyllic summer. An easy recommendation for fans of family stories.

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)