Take A Chance Challenge - Challenge #7

I'm so excited to be participating in the Take A Chance Challenge hosted by Jenners over at Find Your Next Book Here. She has come up with 10 fun and clever tasks that involve books, reading, and even a little writing. This is my blog entry for Challenge #7.

Here are the instructions for this particular challenge:

Challenge 7: Random Bestseller
Go to Random.org and, using the True Random Number Generator, enter the number 1950 for the min. and 2008 for the max. and then hit generate. Then go to this site and find the year that Random.org generated for you and click on it. Then find the bestseller list for the week that would contain your birthday for that year. Choose one of the bestsellers from the list that comes up, read it and write about it.

My random year was 1998. The book I chose was Summer Sisters by Judy Blume. It was on the bestseller list for the week of August 23rd, 1998.




As a child, I read and loved many of Judy Blume's books. But, I wasn't really familiar with any of her adult works, so, I was anxious to check this one out.

It's 1990. Victoria, or Vix as she's known to her family and friends, gets a call at work. It's her longtime childhood friend, Caitlin. She tells Vix that she has to come and be her maid of honor; she's getting married! After agreeing to come and be Caitlin's maid of honor, Vix hangs up the phone. She goes to the office restroom and gets sick. Why did she agree to this?

Then, it flashes back to 1977. Caitlin is the new girl at Acequia Madre Elementary school in Santa Fe. She's beautiful, outspoken, and fearless. All the kids love her. Vix, is quiet, shy, and in awe of Caitlin. When Caitlin approaches Vix out of the blue and invites her to spend the summer with her family at the beach, Vix is thrilled. Over the next eight years, Vix continues to spend all her summers with Caitlin. Although they come from very different backgrounds - Caitlin's family has money, Vix's family doesn't - they become best friends. They become "summer sisters."

This coming of age story follows Vix and Caitlin as they grow up and experience many firsts - first crushes, first jobs, first loves, "first times".... Their relationship is far from perfect, but, they share a special bond that can't seem to be broken. Caitlin is wild and reckless, a wanderlust. Vix, more stable, focused on going to college and making something of herself. Their lives take different paths, but they always seem to find their way back together.

I loved this book! From page one, I didn't want to put it down. I have to admit, I did not like Caitlin and couldn't identify with her at all. But, the dynamics between the two girls really drew me in. And, there were so many interesting characters that really added to the story. I was very satisfied with the ending.