Sand Dollar Summer

By Kimberly K. Jones

This book is about a girl named Lise whose perfect world soon falls apart. After her mom got injured in a car accident, Lise and her brother, Free, travel to an island in Maine, where her mom grew up. They will be spending their summer there while her mother recovers. The summer doesn’t seem too bad at first, but then Lise is starting to wish she had her old life back. Her mom used to be happy and fun, but now she seems sad and distant. Right when Lise thinks that things can’t get any worse, something good happens, but I don’t want to give it all away to anyone who is reading the book. Basically near the end of the book, Lise tries to save Ben, the old Native American who lived in the “bird house” on the beach.  They became friends, and she learned many things from him. He left while teaching Lise that sometimes you just have to let people do what they need to do, and what is right. Sometimes you have to go with the flow and not fight what’s happening while other times you should fight. I thought that this book was great! I liked the main character and the setting. This book was full of emotion and very sad at parts, but it is about one family’s unforgettable summer. Even though this book was good, it was a little too easy to read and it could’ve been more challenging. This is an awesome book and I would recommend it to anyone.