Memories of Summer
Publication Information
Author:  White, Ruth	Illustrator:
Title:  Memories of Summer	Date:  2000
Publisher:  Farrar Straus Giroux	City:  New York
ISBN, paperback:  0-374-34945	ISBN, hardback:
Recommended audience:
ABE/ABLE:   Yes	ESOL:
Family:   Yes	Young Adult:   Yes
Picture:
General Information:
Book Type(s):    fiction
HSE Descriptor(s):
Summary:
The novel is set in 1955. A father and 2 daughters (Lyric, the narrator, is 13 and sister Summer is 16) move from rural Kentucky to Flint, MI. The story is about the move, about Lyric's adjustment, but mostly about Summer's descent into mental illness and her family's attempts to love and help her.
Teaching Ideas:
The connections to mental illness suggest study areas. If interest warrants, then-and-now study of both the treatment of mental illness and society's reactions to the mentally ill might be an fruitful inquiry. Learners may want to track Lyric's (or her father's) adjustment to Summer's reality, a process that may invoke discussions about the stages of grief or learning to accept what can't be changed. Although certainly not the central focus of the novel, the adjustment from Kentucky to Michigan might interest readers.
Keywords: select any link below for a list of resources which also have that keyword
Emotions-Personal Issues > emotions > anger Emotions-Personal Issues > emotions > love Emotions-Personal Issues > emotions > relocation, personal Family > father > father-child relationships Communities > urban > city Communities > urban > urban living Science > medicine > diseases Family > siblings

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