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Available
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Publication
Simon Pulse (2011), Hardcover, 432 pages
Description
When teenaged sisters Daisy, Violet, and Calla spend their last summer together at Camp Callanwolde, the decisions they make--both good and bad--bring challenges to their relationship as well as opportunities to demonstrate their devotion to one another.
User reviews
LibraryThing member booktwirps
Terra Elan McVoy’s The Summer of Firsts and Lasts is the story of three sisters – Calla, Violet & Daisy – away for their final year of camp together. In the fall, Calla will go off to college, breaking up the three sisters for the first time. This particular summer, Calla is working on the
Violet is the middle sister, and though she isn’t typically one to break rules, this summer is going to be different. She is bound and determined to make her three weeks at camp memorable. James, a boy she has had a crush on, is at camp again this year, and her new friend, Brynn is quite the rebel, if not also a bad influence on Violet.
Daisy, the youngest of the three also has her eyes set on a boy at camp. More than anything she wants for him to notice her, even if she isn’t the sister that boys tend to notice. She’s a bit more shy and reserved, and more of a loner.
I never went to a summer camp when I was younger. They didn’t have them where I grew up, but reading this book makes me wish I had. The only thing I knew about summer camp was what I saw on the Friday the 13th movies, and that isn’t exactly how I’d like to spend a summer. McVoy totally sets the right atmosphere. With every turn of the page, I felt like I was in the woods, hanging with friends, smelling the clean air and swimming in the cool lake. The sisters are all relatable, and every one of them has a distinct voice and personality. The book is written in alternating voices, with each chapter narrated by a different sister. The only thing that bothered me was the nicknames the sisters had for each other. They didn’t always have just one nickname, so when the active narrator would refer to one of her sisters, I had to guess at which one she was speaking about. There was also a lot of exposition. I, personally, feel the novel could have been a little tighter, but all in all this is a delightful summer read about sisters, friendships and making memories that will last a lifetime.
Rating:
(Review copy courtesy of Simon & Schusters GalleyGrab)
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administration side, rather than as a camp attendee, or a counselor. It’s something she has dreamed about for years, and something she feels will help her toward her career goal of working in resort management. It also gives her the opportunity to spend the summer with Duncan (a counselor), a boy she has had a crush on for years.Violet is the middle sister, and though she isn’t typically one to break rules, this summer is going to be different. She is bound and determined to make her three weeks at camp memorable. James, a boy she has had a crush on, is at camp again this year, and her new friend, Brynn is quite the rebel, if not also a bad influence on Violet.
Daisy, the youngest of the three also has her eyes set on a boy at camp. More than anything she wants for him to notice her, even if she isn’t the sister that boys tend to notice. She’s a bit more shy and reserved, and more of a loner.
I never went to a summer camp when I was younger. They didn’t have them where I grew up, but reading this book makes me wish I had. The only thing I knew about summer camp was what I saw on the Friday the 13th movies, and that isn’t exactly how I’d like to spend a summer. McVoy totally sets the right atmosphere. With every turn of the page, I felt like I was in the woods, hanging with friends, smelling the clean air and swimming in the cool lake. The sisters are all relatable, and every one of them has a distinct voice and personality. The book is written in alternating voices, with each chapter narrated by a different sister. The only thing that bothered me was the nicknames the sisters had for each other. They didn’t always have just one nickname, so when the active narrator would refer to one of her sisters, I had to guess at which one she was speaking about. There was also a lot of exposition. I, personally, feel the novel could have been a little tighter, but all in all this is a delightful summer read about sisters, friendships and making memories that will last a lifetime.
Rating:
(Review copy courtesy of Simon & Schusters GalleyGrab)
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LibraryThing member Bookswithbite
This book is filled with sisterly love, fights, and drama. For me this book started off slow. It took a while to learn from each point of view of the sisters. I like that the reader gets to read about the sisters from not only themselves, but from each other as well. At times if can be confusing
The storyline got confusing while reading. Mainly because of the point of view switches. The reader switched pov's many, many times. It was Calla, then Violet, then Daisy. It always switched. What was confusing is because of the constant switching you had to really stay with the storyline in order to figure out where you are at. If you got lost somewhere then switched to another pov, you basically confused until you backtracked where you got lost.
I like that in the book, the sisters not only fought, but needed each other as well. It showed how strong the sisters could be if they relied on one another and help each other out. I loved seeing them be there when one got in trouble, had a heart break, or even volunteer to beat someone up.
This book had lots of first experiences and last experiences. In the end, the sisters learn the greatest lesson of all. That they loved and needed each other. I adored the friendship and seeing them grow. It was a great book filled with love, heartache, and a strong sisterly love.
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with all the point of view switches, but it was smoothed out.The storyline got confusing while reading. Mainly because of the point of view switches. The reader switched pov's many, many times. It was Calla, then Violet, then Daisy. It always switched. What was confusing is because of the constant switching you had to really stay with the storyline in order to figure out where you are at. If you got lost somewhere then switched to another pov, you basically confused until you backtracked where you got lost.
I like that in the book, the sisters not only fought, but needed each other as well. It showed how strong the sisters could be if they relied on one another and help each other out. I loved seeing them be there when one got in trouble, had a heart break, or even volunteer to beat someone up.
This book had lots of first experiences and last experiences. In the end, the sisters learn the greatest lesson of all. That they loved and needed each other. I adored the friendship and seeing them grow. It was a great book filled with love, heartache, and a strong sisterly love.
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LibraryThing member elliedreams
I really liked this book. I enjoyed the relationship between the sisters, and to me, that's what the book was about. The background of camp really had less to do with the story line than other people make it seem. I, however, (Spoiler!) was unhappy about Duncan not being in love with Calla also,
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but that's probably because I love romance and such. I could see this becoming a sequel and not minding at all. Show Less
LibraryThing member JenJ.
I tore through this pretty quick, but it wasn't as light as I expected it to be. Not everything was resolved all hunky dory at the end which was a nice surprise. Less about romance than relationships between sisters and friends (although there's definitely still some romance), McVoy tells the story
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of one session of summer camp through the rotating viewpoints of three sisters. Daisy is a sophomore just beginning to discover her talent for running but plagued by her cabinmates' mean girl antics. Violet's a senior who is trying to balance her new friendship with the camp wild child and a hot, forbidden romance with a counselor. Calla, the oldest, will be off to college in the fall, but for her last summer at camp she's won the only office intern spot which leaves her in a unique position somewhere between staff and counselor - not really fitting in with either group and struggling with her feelings for Duncan, her best friend at camp for years and now a counselor himself. All three girls know this is their last summer together at camp and they're determined to make it a summer they'll never forget. The relationships among the three sisters are extremely complex and well-depicted; I also really liked that the three girls had distinct personalities, not just different interests. The whole summer camp experience as depicted here was fascinating to me - I remember going away to camp as a kid, but I never did it as a teenager and I wonder if this is really what it was like. All in all, an excellent summer read that won't rot your brain. Show Less
LibraryThing member caitief
This book is SO much fun to read! I mean look at the cover. It just screams "you will enjoy reading this book and crave ice cream the entire time!"
It is a book about sisterhood, camp, boys, finding yourself, and sticking up for yourself and others. The camp parts are what everyone wants camp to be,
It still made me nostalgic, which any good summer camp book should.
The book has a bad guy (well girl) who I was wary of the entire time (and for goo reason!). She is really bad news, but is portrayed in a way that makes her look fun and exciting. It is easy to see why anyone would trust her and want her as a friend, which was great. She felt more real than the usual "mean girls" because she wasn't one.
It is a book with a lot of fun, romance, and heart. I loved reading every second of it and think i will have to check out other books by Terra Elan McVoy (after I go eat some ice cream).
It is a book about sisterhood, camp, boys, finding yourself, and sticking up for yourself and others. The camp parts are what everyone wants camp to be,
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but (at least in my one experience of camp) it never is. There are hookups and sneaking out. There are competitions and dances and everything you see in the movies about camp. Yeah, it may be a little unrealistic, but it is fun and it makes me long to go back to Camp Fitch...even if it was nothing like this book!It still made me nostalgic, which any good summer camp book should.
The book has a bad guy (well girl) who I was wary of the entire time (and for goo reason!). She is really bad news, but is portrayed in a way that makes her look fun and exciting. It is easy to see why anyone would trust her and want her as a friend, which was great. She felt more real than the usual "mean girls" because she wasn't one.
It is a book with a lot of fun, romance, and heart. I loved reading every second of it and think i will have to check out other books by Terra Elan McVoy (after I go eat some ice cream).
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LibraryThing member weecare
I have mixed feelings about The Summer of Firsts and Lasts. I gave it 4 stars because I loved the idea of the subject matter of the book (and kind of envied it-I wish I had sisters that I could have related to while growing up) The plot was great and so was the story line...
BUT...
I thought is was a
I would recommend this book to others-it was just different than what I usually read :-)
BUT...
I thought is was a
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slower, harder book to read. I found myself lost because each chapter was another sisters point of view. I found that this made it hard to read and hard to comprehend. However, I do understand that some readers enjoy that type of flow.I would recommend this book to others-it was just different than what I usually read :-)
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LibraryThing member Strangemore
I was really excited to read a book about summer camp. But I'm just not sure that this one tickled my fancy camp slippers (with matching pajamas, of course).
With a camp story, you expect: the grand arson of marshmellows at the end of woodland sticks, songs of kumbaya and jolly good fellows,
But this was a lot of running around, talking, whining and complaining, and more not-so-intriguing things.
I went into this book expecting something like the sisters version of [book:Invincible Summer|8105542] at camp, instead of the beach. But this was not nearly as entertaining as it could have been.
Summer of Firsts and Lasts follows three sisters who are seemingly distinct in personality but not distinct enough in their voices. And guess what? Their names are THEMED! Yay! I love it when that happens. *coughNOTcough*
Their names are: Calla, Daisy, and Violet. Barf. Okay, again. They aren't bad names by any means but I just absolutely hate it when characters in books have "themed" names or similar names, because I can't frikkin keep them straight. And this time, there are three of them. I had a hard enough time with Harmony and Melody in [book:Bumped|8517207].
I would forget which sister was narrating and would only figure it out by the people she was with or the other sisters they mention. Like "Okay, so she just mentioned Daisy and Violet, so then Calla is talking." However, I'm notoriously book ADD, so maybe this was my own fault for not paying enough attention.
The amount of nicknames was unbearable, considering the complete lack of consistency in which they were used. Each sister would use two or three different nicknames for each of the other sisters: Violet is Vi and ViVi. Calla is Cal and Cow. Daisy is Daze, Dizzy, Zee and ZeeZee. And I think somebody is Bot or Shaz, or maybe Shaz was a stand-in for a cuss word. I can't really remember or, at the time, I couldn't tell.
There seemed to be too much attention paid to the precise sequence of events and exactly what EVERYONE was doing ALL the time, as well as what everyone was wearing or talking about, or saying about the other minor characters. Sometimes when there are too many details in a book, it can seem not genuine. Not nearly enough character building, setting, or description was involved. None of the boys were swoon worthy. Even one of the main romances developed completely "off screen" and we never really experience it first hand.
Mainly, what I really missed was the ambiance of camp. I wanted to feel the campfire's heat crackling against my forearm and smell the crisp sweet scent of roasting marshmallows. This book never quite did that for me.
Personally, I didn't enjoy this very much, but if you miss the good ol' days of summer camp, give this book a shot. You might like it, anyway.
(Thanks to S&S for allowing me to read this as an ARC.)
With a camp story, you expect: the grand arson of marshmellows at the end of woodland sticks, songs of kumbaya and jolly good fellows,
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spaghetti food fights, and zombie-apocalypse-survival-training (Wait, that last one might have just been part of my delusions while I was at camp).But this was a lot of running around, talking, whining and complaining, and more not-so-intriguing things.
I went into this book expecting something like the sisters version of [book:Invincible Summer|8105542] at camp, instead of the beach. But this was not nearly as entertaining as it could have been.
Summer of Firsts and Lasts follows three sisters who are seemingly distinct in personality but not distinct enough in their voices. And guess what? Their names are THEMED! Yay! I love it when that happens. *coughNOTcough*
Their names are: Calla, Daisy, and Violet. Barf. Okay, again. They aren't bad names by any means but I just absolutely hate it when characters in books have "themed" names or similar names, because I can't frikkin keep them straight. And this time, there are three of them. I had a hard enough time with Harmony and Melody in [book:Bumped|8517207].
I would forget which sister was narrating and would only figure it out by the people she was with or the other sisters they mention. Like "Okay, so she just mentioned Daisy and Violet, so then Calla is talking." However, I'm notoriously book ADD, so maybe this was my own fault for not paying enough attention.
The amount of nicknames was unbearable, considering the complete lack of consistency in which they were used. Each sister would use two or three different nicknames for each of the other sisters: Violet is Vi and ViVi. Calla is Cal and Cow. Daisy is Daze, Dizzy, Zee and ZeeZee. And I think somebody is Bot or Shaz, or maybe Shaz was a stand-in for a cuss word. I can't really remember or, at the time, I couldn't tell.
There seemed to be too much attention paid to the precise sequence of events and exactly what EVERYONE was doing ALL the time, as well as what everyone was wearing or talking about, or saying about the other minor characters. Sometimes when there are too many details in a book, it can seem not genuine. Not nearly enough character building, setting, or description was involved. None of the boys were swoon worthy. Even one of the main romances developed completely "off screen" and we never really experience it first hand.
Mainly, what I really missed was the ambiance of camp. I wanted to feel the campfire's heat crackling against my forearm and smell the crisp sweet scent of roasting marshmallows. This book never quite did that for me.
Personally, I didn't enjoy this very much, but if you miss the good ol' days of summer camp, give this book a shot. You might like it, anyway.
(Thanks to S&S for allowing me to read this as an ARC.)
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ISBN
144240213X / 9781442402133
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