The Brightest Stars of Summer

Gr 4–6—After her role in a movie is cut and she loses her best friend to a "cool" group, Marigold reassesses her life and decides to be "more ordinary," like her sister Zinnie. When the girls are given the opportunity to spend more time at Aunt Sunny's East Coast beach home helping her prepare for her wedding, Marigold sees it as an escape, and Zinnie as an opportunity to write more realistically and qualify for a school writing program. Marigold catches the attention of Max, a boy whom Zinnie likes, and Zinnie retaliates by reading Marigold's diary. She then tries to get her sister to be more attracted to last year's crush, Pete, while writing a story about a character much like her sister. Tensions increase when Zinnie again captures a local movie producer's attention, and the resultant spat causes a small wedding catastrophe. Like Jeanne Birdsall's The Penderwicks, this sequel to The Forget-Me-Not-Summer offers a view of a privileged summer of delicious freedom to roam, opportunity for the girls to pursue their passions, and soul-searching conducted under the watchful eyes of an understanding adult in an old-fashioned setting.