All Summer Long by Hope Larson

Hello, perfect summer read!

I’m really loving all of the perfect-for-summer graphic novels that are popping up recently.  They’re really helping me to get into the mindset for summer (which I typically hate, by the way), with lazy days, friendships, and characters that really pop off the pages.  Also, in the case of All Summer Long?  There’s cats.  A lot of cats.  And they’re all freaking cute.

Thirteen year old Bina and her best friend (and luckily next door neighbor, Austin) spend pretty much all of their time together.  In fact, they’ve been spending every summer together for as long as they can remember (back to when they were three years old!), even coming up with a Summer Fun Index, which logs points for all the awesome stuff they do in the summer (such as how many cats they’ve pet!).  So why should this summer be any different?  Bina is super excited for another lazy summer hanging with her best friend and trying to outdo last year’s summer fun score.

That’s when Austin drops his news on Bina – he’s going to soccer camp for a month.  But what about the Summer Fun Index?  He also informs Bina that the two of them are just a bit too old to be doing that, and that he has no interest in continuing with it.  Talk about a great way to start the summer!

Dreading the day Austin leaves, she tries to spend time with him and text him as much as she can, but Austin is acting weird and Bina has no idea why.  Even after he leaves for camp and Bina settles in for a long month of playing guitar, binge watching British teen spy shows, and more or less being bored, he is still acting weird; he doesn’t reply to her texts, yet still posts on social media, and he doesn’t seem to want to talk to her.

One afternoon when Bina locks herself out of her house and breaks into Austin’s house to grab the spare key, his sister older sister catches her, and the two strike up an unlikely friendship.

Told over the course of several weeks during the summer, Bina learns a lot of new things, including how to babysit, how to play some new songs on guitar, and to be open to new things, even if it isn’t what she was hoping for.

I absolutely loved this book!  The illustrations were charming and the characters were amazing – I loved Bina and Charlie and thought they were both full of personality.  This is a book that is pure fun, and I think it would work perfectly for just about any age group.  I can see this book really capturing the attention of bored middle graders in the summer time, and maybe even reluctant readers, because it has so much to offer.  This is the kind of graphic novel I wish I could have gotten my hands on when I was thirteen!

If you want to add a little fun to your summer, All Summer Long by Hope Larson is the perfect book to pick up and read.  Whether you are curling up on the back porch with some lemonade or hitting the beach, All Summer Long will keep you entertained with its exciting illustrations and fun story about music, friendship, and growing up.