THREE SUMMERS

From a multi-award-winning author comes this magnificent and deeply moving story about two girls, a life-long friendship, and the heart’s search for the real true thing.

As a baby, Ruth miraculously survived the car accident that killed her mother. Her grandmother raised her with the fierce conviction that Ruth be free to meet the world on her own terms, and not be stuck in the small life of their country town. This wise, compassionate, beautifully written book, weaves together the stories of Ruth, her grandmother Margaret May, Ruth's lifelong friend Fee, and Ruth's troubled foster child Dancey Tremaine. From Ruth's coming of age in a country town and the defining influence of her grandmother, to the consequences of Fee's youthful marriage and motherhood, to a troubled contemporary child looking for love, this book enables us to appreciate the beauty of life and connection with others. Australian author Judith Clarke is a major force in young adult fiction world-wide. Clarke is unsurpassed in her ability to convey complex emotional states with acute understanding and compassion. Her writing has been recognised in both the prestigious Boston Globe/Horn Book Awards and the American Library Association’s Michael L. Printz Awards for Excellence in Young Adult Literature – One Whole and Perfect Day was an Honor Book in 2008. Her most recent novel, Winds of Heaven, was named an Honour Book in the 2010 CBCA Book of the Year awards and was shortlisted for the inaugural Prime Minister's Literary Award.