Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
Categories
Children’s, Teenage & Educational
Weblink
http://akemidawnbowman.com

SUMMER BIRD BLUE

Akemi Dawn Bowman

A teen struggles to find her way back to her love of music in the wake of tragedy in this incisive, lyrical novel that's perfect for fans of Nicola Yoon and Jennifer Niven, by the author of William C. Morris Award finalist Starfish.

Rumi Seto spends a lot of time worrying she doesn't have the answers to everything. What to eat, where to go, whom to love. But there is one thing she is absolutely sure ofshe wants to spend the rest of her life writing music with her younger sister, Lea.

Then Lea dies in a car accident, and her mother sends her away to live with her aunt in Hawaii while she deals with her own grief. Now thousands of miles from home, Rumi struggles to navigate the loss of her sister, being abandoned by her mother, and the absence of music in her life. With the help of the "boys next door"a teenage surfer named Kai, who smiles too much and doesn't take anything seriously, and an eighty-year-old named George Watanabe, who succumbed to his own grief years agoRumi attempts to find her way back to her music, to write the song she and Lea never had the chance to finish.

Aching, powerful, and unflinchingly honest, Summer Bird Blue explores big truths about insurmountable grief, unconditional love, and how to forgive even when it feels impossible.

Akemi Dawn Bowman is the author of Starfish and Summer Bird Blue. She is also a Ravenclaw and Star Wars enthusiast, who served in the US Navy for five years and has a BA in social sciences from UNLV. Originally from Las Vegas, she currently lives in England with her husband, two children, and their Pekingese mix.

Available products
Book Published 2018-09-01 by Simon Pulse
Book Published 2018-09-01 by Simon Pulse

Comments

It grabs your heart and won't let go.

Bowman, whose Starfish was a Morris Award finalist, proves again that she isn't afraid to dive headlong into challenging issues , such as asexuality, grief, resentment, and forgiveness. This beautiful story sparkles as its complex characters dare to find footholds in the seemingly inescapable dark.

Summer Bird Bluebrings us the gift of Rumi, unflinchingly honest in herself, her music and the ways she loves and doesn't. I got (sobbingly) lost in the rhythms of this beautiful exploration of what it means to grieve when you haven't figured out who you are or your place in the world. With a Hawaiian setting so vividly alive that it becomes essential to Rumi's healing, this is a gut-wrenching, must-read novel.

Summer Bird Blueis a quiet but powerful exploration of music and love, and their ability to heal grief over time. Like my favorite sad songs, this book settled deep into my heart and refused to let go.

A beautifully complex exploration of grief, guilt, and the healing power of art and friendship. Akemi Dawn Bowman's Summer Bird Bluewill make your heart ache and leave your soul hopeful.

Achingly beautiful and exquisitely crafted,Summer Bird Blueis an emotionally raw and utterly honest story about loss, about hope, and about finding the courage to sing your own song. Akemi Dawn Bowman's writing is lyrical and full of life. I was riveted from the first page.

The novel was also just chosen as a Junior Library Guild Selection

Croatian: Fokus

The language is extraordinary and the use of pidgin gives the characters a clear and real voice, adding to the perfect sense of place. A beautiful, complex, and heartrending tale.

Convincing local details and dialogue, masterful writing, and an emotionally cathartic climax make this book shine. A strikingly moving book about teenage grief.