AN ITALIAN SUMMER

Amman continues to explore the emotions and tensions involved in growing up female in a patriarchal society in this second book of a series.

Picking up where An Italian Adventure (2026)left off, this installment charts the dreaded onset of middle school for Leda Balni in 1989, but the 11-year-old clings to hope. Though the strict teachers and the breakup of her friend group “[suck] balls,” at least frenemy and sometime crush Nico Salisi is in section A with her. But in this hothouse of raging hormones, Nico denigrates the confused Leda as a “nun.” Eschewing romance, she hangs out with an entertaining new pal named Sonia while trying to navigate unpleasant changes that only happen to girls, like menstruation and boob-growing pains. Acting as boy-crazy Sonia’s “wingperson,” Leda meets the Gang during summer vacation. Despite misgivings about dating, Leda notices Gang member Gio and his “sculpted Baywatch body.” Like Leda, he enjoys reading and using big words, but he’s also older: 16 going on 17. Leda distracts herself from love (and the fear of moving to Milan) with Italy’s World Cup and summer camp. But at camp, she finds that, actually, “kissing [is] the shit,” and life becomes even more mystifying. Amman captures a formative slice of young life in all its ecstatic joy and horror, using vivid language, a comedic tone, and memorable characters. Narrator Leda embodies youth’s uneven, outsized emotional terrain, veering from “liquid, red, and hot” embarrassment to a goose bump–inducing feeling of unity while scream-singing with others to the World Cup theme music. Yet unlike Laura the Gorgeous or Sonia, both of whom accept their developing bodies and serial crushes, Leda observes her friends’ behavior “like an ornithologist during mating season.” Amman travels into the boys’ minds, too, as well as making peripheral adults interesting: like unlucky-in-love but smart mom Starry and simpering Cleopatra, an easily duped teacher. Male-centered Italy looms large in this book; for example, Italian TV objectifies women, with a trickle-down effect on the kids. Yet rural Arese, with its swimming pool, hide-and-seek-friendly parking lot, and numerous trees, is like one big playground, delighting the still-childish and untamable Leda.

Luminously messy, fun, and awkward, just like adolescence itself.