skip navigation links

Readers > Talk it Up! > Discussion guides > That Summer

That Summer by Sarah Dessen

Summary

For fifteen-year-old Haven - tall, lanky, bordering on six feet - it's a summer framed by two weddings: her father's to Lorna Queen (the "Weather Pet" of the loca tv station) and her sister's to dull-as-dishwater Lewis Warsher, a boy Haven can't imagine plucky Ashley being attracted to. Nothing seems stable except Haven's memories - especially those of the summer when Ashley dated Sumner Lee, who made her parents laugh and loosened Ashley up. Around Sumner, even Haven felt special. Suddenly Sumner reappears in her life, a long to that perfect past - and her future. 198 pages, 6th grade and up

Discussion questions

Spoiler alert! Some of the questions contain key elements of the plot. Do not read if you don't want to know what happens!

  1. Haven is expected to celebrate both her father's and sister's weddings, yet she doesn't believe in their marriages. As a daughter and a sister, should she keep her feelings to herself, or speak up?
  2. When Sumner is first introduced in the novel, did you think Haven would get together with him? Why do you think she didn't? Is her, as Haven puts it, "a voice from the past arriving in the present with the answers to everything?" (pg. 96).
  3. Why do you think the character of Gwendolyn was included in this novel? What has happened to her? What does she represent?
  4. In what ways does Ashley eclipse Haven? How does she deal with it?
  5. Both Ashley and Haven have felt betrayed by their father. How does each act out those feelings? Does their father seem aware or sensitive to their feelings?
  6. Are Haven memories of Sumner accurate? Are memories in general accurate? How, in the process of remembering, might we alter what we think happened?
  7. How did Sumner betray Ashley?
  8. Do you think Ashley is too young to be getting married? How does Haven come to a better understanding of why her sister is marrying Lewis? Did the explanation make sense to you?
  9. Do you have hope for Haven and her family at the end of the novel?

Created in part with funds granted by the Oregon State Library under the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Oregon State Library. Send feedback to Katie O'Dell, Reading Promotions Coordinator