The Summer Between Us

by Andre Fenton

Overview

"An empowering journey of self-actualization and a look at the intimate bonds that shape a person." — Kirkus Reviews

This coming-of-age story follows eighteen-year-old Adrian Carter as he graduates from high school and confronts difficult decisions about his future, all while dealing with the stress and pressure he feels to please those closest to him. As Adrian navigates the emotional highs and lows of the summer between graduation and the post-secondary future, he negotiates the difficulties of forging a path in life against others’ expectations.

Despite his wish to follow his longtime girlfriend Mel on her cross-country trip with her band, Adrian is hesitant about spending too much time in the punk’s scenes majority-white spaces. Adrian struggles with these feelings and works to find common ground with his emotionally distant father. Meanwhile he starts to understand that his own passion is grounded in a desire to support a community he’s forged on his own.

Dealing with important themes (a desire for independence, identity, first love, familial tensions) from the nuanced perspective of a biracial teen, this story tackles key contemporary social issues. Class differences, colourism in the Black community and the structural barriers limiting access to post-secondary education for Black youth are all embedded in Andre Fenton’s readable narrative.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459506824
Publisher:	Formac Publishing Company, Limited
Publication date:	04/19/2022
Sold by:	De Marque
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

ANDRE FENTON is an award-winning author, spoken word artist and arts educator. He has represented Halifax at seven national poetry festivals across Canada and has written three novels: Worthy of Love (2018), ANNAKA (2020) and The Summer Between Us (2022). Andre’s work focuses on race, self-esteem and creating more representation and diversity in young adult fiction. Andre’s most recent novel is The Summer Between Us. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Editorial Reviews

2022-07-13
A Canadian high school senior grapples with life after graduation and his nuanced identity.

Eighteen-year-old Adrian Carter is on the brink of greatness. He’s graduating high school with honors; he earned a coveted scholarship; he’s a youth mentor at the library; his multiracial friend group is supportive; and his punk rocker girlfriend, Melody Woods, loves him unconditionally. These are undisputed blessings in Adrian’s life, so why does the future—and all its infinite possibilities—freak him out? Not only is Adrian struggling with how to talk to his parents about his past eating disorder, but he’s hiding his decision to apply to Cape Breton University’s community studies program, which he prefers to the business administration degree his father is pushing. When Mel asks Adrian to join her band on a national tour, he’s torn. Although he’s unsure about looming adulthood, the punk scene hasn’t been welcoming to a sensitive Black introvert. As the summer surges ahead, Adrian begins to realize the quiet, radical power of letting go. In this stand-alone companion to Worthy of Love (2019), the lingering aftermath of Adrian’s struggles with bulimia is carefully and empathetically explored, particularly the damaging consequences of his dad’s toxic masculinity. Adrian and Mel’s relationship is grounded in mutual respect, and they experience similar identity issues, as Mel is Asian Indian and implied White, and Adrian’s parents are biracial (Black and White).

An empowering journey of self-actualization and a look at the intimate bonds that shape a person. (Fiction. 13-18)

Kirkus Reviews