MY LOVELY DARK SUMMER

In Connelly’s YA thriller, teens explore a mysterious place in upstate New York.

Laura Gibbons is just shy of 15. In 1994, she moves with her mother and sister from Los Angeles to the town of Fordington, New York; Laura’s grandparents live in Fordington, and she has been there before, but the idea that this might be her new home is a little jarring. Nevertheless, with her Discman in tow, she goes about making friends. She meets Siobhan, a cool girl who skateboards and carries around a red umbrella. Then there’s Mel, who drives an old truck and likes Metallica. Fordington is not so bad—but it does have one odd feature, known as the Blaze, a section of town where a neighborhood was meant to be built, but it was never finished. A fire swept through the area, allegedly started by someone who “didn’t want that project to be completed.” Although steps have been taken to keep people out of the Blaze, the place is naturally enticing to curious teens like Laura and her new friends. They do some investigating, only to find a few surprising discoveries. The author meticulously builds Laura’s world; the text details everything from what Laura is listening to on her Discman to her mother’s career challenges. The 1994 setting is vividly rendered, including mentions of OJ Simpson’s flight in a white Bronco (Laura didn’t know if she “was more shocked to see the pursuit or no traffic on the 405”) and Woodstock ’94. The attention to detail is welcome, though it does cause the narrative to progress slowly (the action doesn’t really pick up until Laura, Mel, and Siobhan make their way to the Blaze about a third of the way through the book). Still, the characters are both likable and distinctive; by the time the teens do make their way into the unknown, readers will be eager to discover what they’ll find there.

An intricately built, enticing world that sets the stage for some curious developments.