About Girls of Summer

We are two writers, two friends, two women, two former strong girls, who decided to tackle a project we wish had been around when we were thirsty for books that moved us —  but struggling through Ivanhoe.

The result is Girls of Summer, an annual list of our personal favorites that we think speak to girls uniquely and help them understand the journey. These are books – new and old, well-known and quiet. What mattered to us most was the celebration of a girl’s connection to the world around her. In the pages of these lovely books you’ll find middle class girls, girls with disabilities, girls of color, girls who might know God, good girls/bad girls. But always girls who stare into the eyes of what’s ahead and refuse to flinch.

It goes without saying that picking ONLY 18 books nearly killed us. (We started with 12 and just couldn’t do it!) Not a week went by that we didn’t find another title that we wanted to include, another genre we had to ignore. And we’re sure you have strong ideas of your own. So to all of those amazing authors whose work is not here, please accept our apologies. And to those of you who are appalled at one of your own favorites being left out, please post suggestions and share what you know.

Finally, a heartfelt thanks to the many people who made this project possible again in 2012.

Dori Yuen provided much-needed help on the trickier aspects of WordPress, and Kris Spisak edited our entries for comma atrocities and other problems.The Richmond Public Library also hosted our live launch of the 2012 list. (Librarians rock!)

Finally, a big thanks to the publicists who donated books, got us in touch with authors, and generally cheered us on!

Title Index