One of the books I can remember checking out repeatedly from my public library when I was young was Phyllis Green's Nantucket Summer. It was a combination of coming-of-age and ghost story and had a beach setting which was always a winner for my Florida self. I can't remember the entire plot but I do recall the teen protagonist (amazon reminds me her name was "A.D.") was hired for a summer to babysit for a slightly unstable mother (I think she suffered from depression) and while on Nantucket she meets the ghost of a young man. I want to say there was some connection between the young man and the mother but I don't recall. Mostly it was the atmosphere of life at the beach which I loved and A.D.'s observations and the vast amount of freedom she enjoyed. I must have checked that book out (with this exact cover) more than a dozen times. It was one of the few actual beach reads I discovered that wasn't cheesy or more concerned with romance than story. I loved it.

The other day I pulled Sand Dollar Summer by Kimberly K. Jones off the stack (actually it is not a stack but more a big sprawling floor covering pile). This is one those non-startling, quiet but deeply memorable books that often gets overlooked during awards season or among reviewers. (It originally came out in 2006 and I received a pb copy to review last year; I don't recall reading much on it around the blogosphere at all.) Long story short, twelve-year old Lise and her little brother Freeman are happy as ducks with their single mom. (Free is five and doesn't talk but otherwise all is grand.) Lise has her summer camps all scheduled and plans for much mall visiting and movie watching with her friends when their mother is in a catastrophic car accident that leaves her facing a long recovery. Looking for a more familiar (and healing) environment, Mom packs the kids and dog up for a summer on the Maine coast where she grew up. Lise is not so into the water (cold and scary) but after much complaining she and Free start making a zillion sand castles, hanging out with a couple of local kids and enjoying the company of Michael, an old friend of their mother's who is now a local doctor. Lise also meets a local elderly resident, a Native American named Ben who shares her love of the "edge", the area near the water but safe on the shore. Ben is the one who teaches Lise about sand dollars and it is for Ben that she braves a horrible storm and nearly loses her own life.

So why did I love this book? It's hard to say - Lise is a very well written likable character. She's a bit prickly (who wouldn't rather be at rock climbing camp then sitting on a beach with water too cold to enjoy?) but also responsible enough to know that her mother is struggling to regain her strength and thus deserves some leeway. (In other words she's not a complete jerk of a kid.) I liked that although it is clear that the mother and Michael are building on a past relationship, they are not the point - nor does Jones make Lise's reaction to the relationship the story. Michael is nice, the kids like Michael and where it goes from there the reader does not know because this is about Lise adjusting to how her life has changed, as much as she might not want it to. (The car accident was the moment of change and the story is really about the family catching up to that fact.) Ben reaches beyond the cliche of wise Native American as he counsels Lise on what change means - and how transient our lives truly are. (At one point while talking about his own mother and the things she taught him he says "...one day all that may be left of us are words on maps.") Ben's house (and health) are extremely fragile and it is because of this that Lise rushes out in the storm and only while she is adrift in the waves realizes that this is the way Ben wants to live and she has to respect that - no matter what the consequences. Their friendship felt real to me, as did all the relationships (between children or adults and children) in the book.

Sand Dollar Summer is just one of those beach reads that gives you the true taste of the coast, all the crazy touristy bits of it as well as the night walks near the water, the sand castles and how the salt and sand will invade every aspect of your life there - in both good and bad ways. I suppose you could say the book is dramatic (it certainly has its moments) but for me it was Lise and Free running on the beach or wandering into town to hit the library that brought back the images of Nantucket Summer. I like seasonal reading - dark and scary in fall, warm and cozy in winter, bright and exhilarating in spring (and perhaps a bit rainy) and for summer, I want to return to the coast to lazy days of shorts and t-shirts, to popsicles and sunglasses. Sand Dollar Summer brought me to the season in a second and was a delight to read from start to stunning finish. (I also loved the cover!)

Now I just need to buy a used copy of Nantucket Summer and revel all over again in my past summers.