Summer Bird Blue
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Description
“Gorgeous prose and heartbreaking storytelling.” —Paste Magazine
“Grabs your heart and won’t let go.” —Book Riot
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
Three starred reviews for this stunning novel about a mixed-race teen who struggles to find her way back to her love of music in the wake of her sister’s death, from the author of the William C. Morris Award finalist Starfish.
Rumi Seto spends a lot of time worrying she doesn’t have the answers to everything. What to eat, where to go, whom to love. But there is one thing she is absolutely sure of—she wants to spend the rest of her life writing music with her younger sister, Lea.
Then Lea dies in a car accident, and her mother sends her away to live with her aunt in Hawaii while she deals with her own grief. Now thousands of miles from home, Rumi struggles to navigate the loss of her sister, being abandoned by her mother, and the absence of music in her life. With the help of the “boys next door”—a teenage surfer named Kai, who smiles too much and doesn’t take anything seriously, and an eighty-year-old named George Watanabe, who succumbed to his own grief years ago—Rumi attempts to find her way back to her music, to write the song she and Lea never had the chance to finish.
Aching, powerful, and unflinchingly honest, Summer Bird Blue explores big truths about insurmountable grief, unconditional love, and how to forgive even when it feels impossible.
Book Information
Posts
CN: death of a sibling, car accident, grief, neglect
“Summer Blue Bird” tells the story of seventeen-year-old Rumi who loses her sister Lea – who is also her best friend – in a car accident. After that she is shipped off to Hawaii to live with her aunt who she doesn’t really know. Because her mother needs time to grieve – alone. When I first read this reasoning for Rumi’s relocation I almost exploded! Yes, you have lost your daughter, you are heartbroken, you are mourning and shattered to pieces. No one is denying this. BUT SO IS YOUR OTHER DAUGHTER! And she needs her mom! Not being dumped at a stranger’s home to figure out everything on her own! *takes a deep breath* This just made me so angry! To be fair, later on her mother explains why she needed time alone and yes, it is a good reason but until then Rumi only hears “your mother needs space”. Which hurts her so much more than the truth could ever have. But since no one talks to her, she has to work through the pain alone, feeling abandoned and unloved. Even believing that she should have been the one dying instead of her sister. She is completely broken and you can feel it in every word. But she has not only lost her best friend but also her love for music which was an essential part in her relationship with Lea and has always been an essential part of Rumi herself. Now she can’t listen to it anymore, can’t even think about playing an instrument without dying inside. Basically, an important part of what makes her herself has died with her sister. Of course, little by little she learns how to deal with the loss, makes some friends and in the end reconnects with her love for music. You can see how she heals a little bit every day, but in a realistic way. She still hurts all over, you can feel her desperation and also her hate for her mother. Which is totally justified, if you ask me. I have to say that the writing becomes quite repetitive as the story progresses, especially Rumi’s thoughts about her family. But somehow, I didn’t mind that at all (whereas I normally get annoyed quickly), maybe because it feels so natural and only underlines the pain this girl is in. One last thing I want to highlight: getting into “Summer Bird Blue” I didn’t expect it to also be kind of a coming out story? Because while processing everything that happened Rumi also explores her sexuality (due to the cute boy next door who has a crush on her), more precisely she acknowledges that she might be on the asexual spectrum. It’s a little hinted at in the beginning during a conversation between Rumi and her sister Lea and it immediately caught my attention. I was happy to see my suspicion confirmed later on. “Summer Bird Blue” is an intense story about loss that broke my heart and put it back together again. It’s about a girl who needs to find herself again after a part of her died. It’s about surviving in a new world, about becoming whole again. It’s heart wrenching. But in the end also hopeful.
(4,5 stars? i guess?) this was an emotional and also very enjoyable ya novel, it was what i typically look for in ya but also something different - mainly because of rumi‘s personality! and yeah i cried at the end but i didn‘t mind because the end was just beautiful. “it‘s ok to be confused. it‘s ok to not have it figured out yet.“ - thank you thank you thank you for this important message!
Description
“Gorgeous prose and heartbreaking storytelling.” —Paste Magazine
“Grabs your heart and won’t let go.” —Book Riot
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
Three starred reviews for this stunning novel about a mixed-race teen who struggles to find her way back to her love of music in the wake of her sister’s death, from the author of the William C. Morris Award finalist Starfish.
Rumi Seto spends a lot of time worrying she doesn’t have the answers to everything. What to eat, where to go, whom to love. But there is one thing she is absolutely sure of—she wants to spend the rest of her life writing music with her younger sister, Lea.
Then Lea dies in a car accident, and her mother sends her away to live with her aunt in Hawaii while she deals with her own grief. Now thousands of miles from home, Rumi struggles to navigate the loss of her sister, being abandoned by her mother, and the absence of music in her life. With the help of the “boys next door”—a teenage surfer named Kai, who smiles too much and doesn’t take anything seriously, and an eighty-year-old named George Watanabe, who succumbed to his own grief years ago—Rumi attempts to find her way back to her music, to write the song she and Lea never had the chance to finish.
Aching, powerful, and unflinchingly honest, Summer Bird Blue explores big truths about insurmountable grief, unconditional love, and how to forgive even when it feels impossible.
Book Information
Posts
CN: death of a sibling, car accident, grief, neglect
“Summer Blue Bird” tells the story of seventeen-year-old Rumi who loses her sister Lea – who is also her best friend – in a car accident. After that she is shipped off to Hawaii to live with her aunt who she doesn’t really know. Because her mother needs time to grieve – alone. When I first read this reasoning for Rumi’s relocation I almost exploded! Yes, you have lost your daughter, you are heartbroken, you are mourning and shattered to pieces. No one is denying this. BUT SO IS YOUR OTHER DAUGHTER! And she needs her mom! Not being dumped at a stranger’s home to figure out everything on her own! *takes a deep breath* This just made me so angry! To be fair, later on her mother explains why she needed time alone and yes, it is a good reason but until then Rumi only hears “your mother needs space”. Which hurts her so much more than the truth could ever have. But since no one talks to her, she has to work through the pain alone, feeling abandoned and unloved. Even believing that she should have been the one dying instead of her sister. She is completely broken and you can feel it in every word. But she has not only lost her best friend but also her love for music which was an essential part in her relationship with Lea and has always been an essential part of Rumi herself. Now she can’t listen to it anymore, can’t even think about playing an instrument without dying inside. Basically, an important part of what makes her herself has died with her sister. Of course, little by little she learns how to deal with the loss, makes some friends and in the end reconnects with her love for music. You can see how she heals a little bit every day, but in a realistic way. She still hurts all over, you can feel her desperation and also her hate for her mother. Which is totally justified, if you ask me. I have to say that the writing becomes quite repetitive as the story progresses, especially Rumi’s thoughts about her family. But somehow, I didn’t mind that at all (whereas I normally get annoyed quickly), maybe because it feels so natural and only underlines the pain this girl is in. One last thing I want to highlight: getting into “Summer Bird Blue” I didn’t expect it to also be kind of a coming out story? Because while processing everything that happened Rumi also explores her sexuality (due to the cute boy next door who has a crush on her), more precisely she acknowledges that she might be on the asexual spectrum. It’s a little hinted at in the beginning during a conversation between Rumi and her sister Lea and it immediately caught my attention. I was happy to see my suspicion confirmed later on. “Summer Bird Blue” is an intense story about loss that broke my heart and put it back together again. It’s about a girl who needs to find herself again after a part of her died. It’s about surviving in a new world, about becoming whole again. It’s heart wrenching. But in the end also hopeful.
(4,5 stars? i guess?) this was an emotional and also very enjoyable ya novel, it was what i typically look for in ya but also something different - mainly because of rumi‘s personality! and yeah i cried at the end but i didn‘t mind because the end was just beautiful. “it‘s ok to be confused. it‘s ok to not have it figured out yet.“ - thank you thank you thank you for this important message!