Cicada Summer

by Andrea Beaty

Hardcover, 2008

Status

Available

Call number

398.2091743

Genres

Fiction

Collection

Your library

Publication

Amulet Books (2008), Edition: 1, Hardcover, 176 pages

Description

Twelve-year-old Lily mourns her brother, and has not spoken since the accident she feels she could have prevented, but the summer Tinny comes to town she is the only one who realizes Lily's secret.

User reviews

LibraryThing member abbylibrarian

Lily has perfected the art of being invisible. For the past two years she hasn't spoken or looked anyone in the eyes. Everyone thinks she's brain damaged. But Lily has a secret. A secret she's never told anyone. When the new girl Tinny comes to town, Lily knows right away that she's trouble. Having

read every Nancy Drew book in the library, Lily knows how to spy on Tinny and she's determined to keep an eye on her until she figures out what Tinny is hiding.

The thing I loved most about this book was that it had the perfect buildup of suspense. From the very beginning when we find out that Lily is hiding something, I was hooked and the climax didn't let me down.

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LibraryThing member skstiles612

Lily loves reading Nancy Drew books. She loves them so much that she sneaks them out of the library to read them. Why does she sneak them out? Ever since an accident that took her voice, people have considered her brain damaged. She has let them. It is easier to handle the pain. Things change when

a young girl named Tinny comes to town and discovers Lily's secret. She blames Lily when she steals from her great aunt. Lily is not the only one hiding something. Lily is sure Tinny is up to no good and just like Nancy Drew she is going to solve this mystery. This was a very good book. The characters were very believable. I didn't quite understand the situation with Lily's brother until I finished the book. Then I went back to the beginning and re-read the first chapter. It all clicked. There were two mysteries working side by side here. Great book. I recommend it to anyone who likes mysteries.

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LibraryThing member janiereader

Quick, great read. Beaty does a wonderful job of intertwining the story with bits and pieces of reality to bring the reader into the action. Twelve year old Lily does not speak. Not because she can't, it's because she chooses not to. Not since some terrible accident that everyone thinks has left

her brain damaged. Due to this opinion, she is left on her own, a silent witness to the world around her. Without giving away the storyline, I would like to mention I particularly liked the father fingering his pocket overalls throughout the story. My only qualm is not the book itself, it's that it's a Sunshine State Nominee (Florida state prize) for students grade 3-5. Why do all the stories have to be about death? There are good stories out there that aren't so heavy.

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LibraryThing member KimJD

Grades 4-7
Lily has been invisible for the past two years. She doesn't talk, she won't look people in the eyes, and the townspeople think that she's brain-damaged. She's not, but she's content to have them think that and leave her alone. She sits unresponsively in school, but when nobody is around,

she loses herself in Nancy Drew mysteries. Tinny, the new girl in town, unexpectedly stumbles across the fact that Lily can read, and makes it her mission to torment Lily with the knowledge. But Tinny has some secrets of her own, and Lily is determined to discover them before Tinny can hurt her great aunt Fern. When a strange man comes to town, Lily realizes that Tinny's secrets are dangerous ones. Interwoven in the story of Lily and Tinny are flashbacks to Lily's brother Pete, slowly revealing more about their relationship and the reason that Lily hasn't spoken for the last two years. Andrea Beaty mixes in just enough mystery and suspense to make this a very hard book to put down. Don't be fooled by the rather bland title and cover... this is a page-turner.

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LibraryThing member bookdads

Poor Lily has never been quite right since the accident. Unable to read or even speak, she’s become all but invisible to most of the townsfolk except for her father and Fern the kindly shopkeeper. But Lily is hiding a dark secret. She really can speak, and even read – she’s read all of the

Nancy Drew books in the school library – but she must never, ever let anyone know it. If Lily were ever to speak again it would mean confronting a terrible truth, not only for her but for her father as well. Yet the fragile equilibrium of Lily’s world is broken one summer when Fern’s mysterious niece Tinny comes to town. Tinny brings trouble with her for both Lily and Fern, and Lily will need all of her detective skills to decipher Tinny’s plans. But can Lily find the courage to stop Tinny when it will mean revealing her own hidden secrets?

Cicada Summer is a poignant story of one girl’s struggle to come to terms with a terrible loss, and of her relationship with her single father. As much as it’s a father’s role to protect his children, sometimes they try to protect us too. And sometimes decisions made out of love and the best intentions are still the wrong ones. At its heart, this book is about the love that father and daughter share, and about the harsh realities of life that often intrude on our families despite our best intentions. With just enough of a mystery to add interest to the family drama without overshadowing it, this book is a good read for both fathers and daughters. Reviewed by Book Dads

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