In October, I read The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han. This novel tells the story of a teenage girl named Isabelle “Belly” Conklin. Cousins Beach has been Belly’s home away from home every summer of her life. She would spend her summers at the summer house with her mom (Laurel Dunne), brother (Steven Conklin), mom’s best friend ( Susannah Fisher), and mom’s best friend’s sons (Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher). Throughout the story Belly encounters confusing relationships between Conrad and Jeremiah when she finds she has feeling for both. In the coming-of-age story, Belly learns she needs to choose what she wants and to be honest with herself on who she is.

I really enjoyed the book, as the different relationships grew between Conrad and Jeremiah with Belly. Conrad is the older brother who is more introverted and moody while Jeremiah is the younger brother who is happy go lucky and carefree. Belly loves Conrad because she likes that he preferred to be by himself and was mature. She also loves Jeremiah because he’s her best friend and is really sweet to her. Belly loves them both for different reasons and in the end has to decide who she truly wants. I recommend this book because of the character’s relatable personalities and relationships. The well-written and heartfelt novel includes many important topics including family, friendship, love, and growing up.

My favorite character is Belly Conklin from The Summer I Turned Pretty. I love this character because she is dreamy and upbeat always looking for the bright side of things. She has so many different sides of her most can relate to and I love the way Jenny Han made this character. This quote shows Belly in the car on the way to Cousins Beach, “ It held a millions promises of summer and of what it just might be… I could feel that familiar flutter in my chest. We were almost there. ” (Page 2 & 3) This shows that Belly is excited to see what the summer will hold. She’s looking on the bright side of going to the summer house and positive for what will come next. Belly also day dreams a lot during this book and finds herself when this summer ( the summer she turns sixteen) everything changes, she becomes “pretty”.

My favorite quote from The Summer I Turned Pretty is, “ It was a summer I would never, ever forget. It was the summer everything began. It was the summer I turned pretty. Because for the first time I felt it.” I love this quote because it sums up Belly’s story of the first novel of the trilogy. The summer she turned sixteen was a summer of firsts for her. Belly gained so many new experiences to lead her to the next chapter of her life. She learned and she lost, she loved and got her heart got broken. I think this quote describes The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han and I love to see Belly Conklin’s journey!

I read It’s Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han this October. This is the second book in The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy. This novel is about Isabel “Belly” Conklin who is struggling with the realization of her family friend Susannah dying to her battle of cancer, not staying at Susannah’s summer house in Cousins beach for the first summer ever, and confusing love triangle between Susannah’s sons (Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher). Belly’s life long best friend, Taylor though is so excited to finally spend the summer with Belly even though Belly is dealing with her grief and emotions. But out of the blue, Jeremiah calls saying Conrad is gone. Will Belly try to get him back or will she finally get over her first love?

I really enjoyed the book as this story showcases different perspectives of Isabel “Belly” Conklin and Jeremiah Fisher. I liked seeing different sides of the story to know Belly’s side but also get to see deeper into Jeremiah’s personality and the way he thinks on the inside. It’s also nice to see both sides of Belly and Jeremiah in this novel because the two do become closer. They evolve a close relationship that is sweet and fun to read about. I recommend It’s Not Summer Without You because the emotions came out of the characters flawlessly, there is different perspectives, it explores many topics for different peoples’ needs, and there is a need to not want to put the book down while reading.

My favorite character in It’s Not Summer Without You is Jeremiah Fisher. I love Jere because he is athletic, playful, carefree, and easygoing. This character is enjoyable to watch change through his experiences while I read The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy. He evolved through the books to the young man he ended as. A quote to describe Jeremiah is, “In some ways, he was the same Jeremiah, but in other ways, I could see how this had changed him. Had aged him. Everything took more effort, his jokes, his smiles. Nothing was easy anymore.” This describes Jeremiah because he evolved after his mother Susannah passed. This is one of the ways Belly and others have noticed Jere has changed. He’s still himself but tweaks have been made to him over the years. I love Jeremiah’ s personality and think he’s a great character in the trilogy.

My favorite quote from the novel is, “There are moments in life that you wish with all your heart you could take back. Like, just erase from existence. Like, if you could, you’d erase yourself right out of existence too, just to make that moment not exist.” I love this quote because it’s so true that sometimes you do something so bad you automatically need to take it back or else there is too much guilt to continue being there in that moment. These moments can remind you to think before you act or speak so hopefully moments won’t happen like this as much in the future. This quote is so meaningful and honest and that’s why it stood out to me.

This October, I read We’ll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han. This is the final novel in The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy. Isabel “Belly” Conklin is stuck between making a choice between the two boys she’s ever loved, Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher. Since, Belly has been dating Jeremiah for two years now she’s positive he’s her soulmate. But, when Conrad appears out of the blue confessing his feelings and Jeremiah proposing to Belly, what will she do? Belly will have to choose one and break the other one’s heart.

I really enjoyed this book because I loved how Jenny Han ended this trilogy with extra confusing emotions and drama. I love how Belly chose what she truly wanted and made the right decision for herself even though it was complicated. I enjoyed the extra drama and buildup in this story with the different elements to make Belly’s decision harder between the two boys to add more suspense. You should read this book because it was a cute ending to the trilogy, there were flashbacks and present moments, drama, romance, family, friendships, and coming-of-age topics.

My favorite character in We’ll Always Have Summer is Conrad Fisher. I like that he is deep, quiet, caring, and protective. A quote from the text to prove this is Conrad’s personality is, “He was marrying my girl, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I just had to watch it happen, because he was my brother, because I promised. Take care of him, Connie. I’m counting on you .” This describes Conrad because he is protective and caring. He promised his mom before she dies to cancer that he would take care of his brother. So with that, Conrad had to let his love (Belly) go to his brother to protect Jeremiah. He couldn’t take her away from him because he promised for his younger brother. Conrad Fisher is also deep in his emotions and thoughts. He thinks throughly about the little details. He’s also very quiet, Conrad doesn’t talk very much. He keeps to himself because he’s introverted and only speaks when it’s important to him or he has to.

My favorite quote from this novel is, “A fight is like a fire. You think you have it under control, you think you can stop it whenever you want, but before you know it, it’s living, breathing thing and there’s no controlling it and you were a fool to think you could.”  I love this quote because it is so honest and meaningful. I also like the simile of “A fight is like a fire.” In the quote of We’ll Always Have Summer. I enjoy how anyone can relate to this quote and it isn’t hard to figure out the meaning and when you do it is so true.

Who would you trade places with for the day if you could? I would trade with Taylor Swift for so many reasons. Taylor Swift is an American singer/songwriter and I would want to trade places with her for the day because I would get to perform her Eras Tour, have lots of money, and have many celebrity friends including Selena Gomez. I would want to perform Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour because I would get to dance and sing onstage for many amazing fans. I already love performing since I am a dancer so I would want to try singing and dancing together. It would be fun to wear so many fancy costumes and perform on so many cool sets and backgrounds. While I was enjoying performing the Eras Tour I would also be able to travel the world. Another reason I would want to trade places with Taylor Swift is because of her money. I would want to have all of Taylor Swift’s money because I could use it to donate to charity. I could donate the money to the communities she performs her Eras Tour in while she travels. Lastly, I could be friends with many celebrities. I could be friends with her famous celebrity friends that includes Selena Gomez, Blake Lively, and Ed Sheeran. These are the many reasons why I would want to trade places with Taylor Swift for a day.

It would be a dream to have a perfect day and it would go like this. From the moment I wake up, I would get out of bed and put on the perfect outfit. I would make french toast for my family and we would be able to eat together as a family. Then, I would find out that I won the lottery of millions and millions of dollars. I would be able to go shopping for everything I want and pay for all my dance bills for as long as I’m able to dance. After I won the lottery in the morning, I would be able to go to my favorite dance class of the week with Ms. Ella and be able to do a sassy jazz combo. We would also be in a huge studio, have free snacks, and be able to wear whatever we want to dance. Next, my friend, Maddie and I would be able to spend time together eating a delicious lunch at the beach and swimming in the crystal clear ocean. Lastly, that night a couple friends and I would be able to go to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert with floor seats using the money I got from winning the lottery. If I could experience this perfect day it would be so memorable and fun. It would be a dream come true!

I would want to be twenty-five years old forever. Twenty-five is a good age because you could be out of schooling and you would be an adult. If I was twenty-five, I would be able to vote and would have a say in what I want to happen in my society. Since I would be an adult, I could make my own decisions and decide what I want to do with my life. I would also be young enough still to go to parties and have lots of fun without being too tired. I would be at a good age to start to find a steady job that I want to pursue. At twenty-five, I could be done with college and not have to worry about time management with my schooling. At that age, I could be done with a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree even. Twenty-five would find me enough time to have figured out money management and to start being able to buy things for myself with enough money that I will have from a good job. Twenty-five is a great age and these reasons are just some why I would want to be twenty-five forever.

This year I’m going to be performing the starring role of Clara in the Nutcracker Ballet. All of my roles this year are Clara, Clara’s Best Friend, Snowflake, and Chinese Corps. I’m so excited to be performing this role with one of my friends, Nina. We will both be performing Clara in different shows of the first weekend of December. My dance studio also does Nutcracker in a Nutshell performances to show the community and I’ve been working very hard to get ready. I have had rehearsals every weekend and Wednesdays to prepare. I’m so happy to be gifted this role of Clara by my dance teacher and studio director, Ms. Kelly. I’ve been doing the Nutcracker for five years and am so happy to finally be able to perform this role. The role of Clara is the main, young girl whose family hosts a winter holiday party and she is gifted a magical nutcracker. Her nutcracker comes to life and the nutcracker starts an epic battle with the rat king. Clara then travels through a snowy forest and gets to experience the land of sweets. Lastly, she travels home and doesn’t know if this was a dream or real. I’m so gifted and so excited to embark this experience.

In September, I read the book To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han. This story is a romance novel about a teenage girl named Lara Jean Song-Covey. She’s a high schooler who writes love letters to all the boys she’s had crushes on but doesn’t send them, she keeps them for herself only. Lara Jean writes all her feelings into these letters so she can become ready to move on from that crush. She has written five letters and suddenly all of them get sent out to her past crushes. Lara Jean’s love life then starts to turn into drama and chaos as her old lovers start to approach her with their letters.

I liked this book, as the relationships felt so in depth. I loved the relationship that Lara Jean had with her older sister, Margot (Gogo) and younger sister, Katherine (Kitty). They all were so close and looked out for each other constantly. I enjoyed the relationship that was made between one of her lovers, Peter that grew and got more in depth throughout the story. They became so close and the love really grew between them. Jenny Han made this book feel like I was there and made it so I could picture the novel in my mind perfectly. This a great book to read if you love teen romances!

My favorite character was Lara Jean Song-Covey. I loved this character because I felt like I related to her so much and we shared some of the same traits and experiences. One of her character traits that she showed throughout the story was thoughtful. The story revealed, “How am I supposed to know what’s real and what’s not? It feels like I’m the only one who doesn’t know the difference” –  Chapter 49, Page 307. The novel states, “Do you think there’s a difference? Between belonging with and belong to, I mean?” – Chapter 38, Page 228. From the evidence of the text, Lara Jean is very thoughtful through many of the thoughts that come up in her mind. She has deep emotions and feelings that come to her brain to question and state about her life. Lara Jean is a thoughtful girl who thinks thoroughly through her life decisions and choices. I feel like I do the same and that’s what I love about this character.

The quote that I loved most from To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before was, “Margot would say she belongs to herself. Kitty would say she belongs to no one. And I guess I would say I belong to my sisters and my dad, but that won’t always be true. To belong to someone – I didn’t know it, but now that I think about it, it seems like that’s all I’ve ever wanted. To really be somebody’s , and to have them be mine.” This quote stuck to me because I loved the importance and meaning of it. It explains that she wants someone to want her and to want someone to be her’s. When I thought about this, it makes me feel like Lara Jean’s quote relates to me and I feel the same way.

This month, I read P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han. This is the second book in the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy. This book is a romance and drama novel about a high school girl named Lara Jean Song-Covey. She is troubled between picking between two boys that she has crushes on. Peter Kavinsky was her first boyfriend until she broke up with him for lying to her. John Ambrose McLaren who recently received her letter reconnects with her then starts to like Lara Jean. Covey then doesn’t know who to choose when she has feelings for both John and Peter.

I recommend reading this book because it teaches about struggles in high school and what such a great role model Lara Jean is for others. I really enjoyed this book because I loved how Lara Jean always chooses to do the right thing even when it’s hard. She tries her best to get through the highs and lows of high school. If I was friends with Lara Jean I could know I could count on her to find the right solution. Throughout the story, Lara Jean and her boyfriend Peter have a video leaked to their whole high school through social media. Lara Jean stays calm and knows how to handle the situation. I think this book is a great novel about high school romance and struggles which makes it great to read!

My favorite character of P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han is Lara Jean Song-Covey. She shows the character traits of shy, kind, quirky, curious, and honest. Jenny Han states, “I want to say, I never cared about your past. But that isn’t true. It’s only then that I realize: Peter wasn’t the one who needed to get over Genevieve. It was me. All this time with Peter, I’ve been comparing myself to her, all the ways I don’t measure up. All the ways our relationship pales next to theirs. I’m the one who couldn’t let her go. I’m the one who didn’t give us a chance.” This shows that Lara Jean becomes honest with herself that she can’t blame her boyfriend it’s herself that needed to let go to make their relationship work. They need to understand and trust one another to know how to stay together.

My favorite quote from P.S. I Still Love You is, “You have to let yourself be fully present in every moment. Just be awake for it, do you know what I mean? Go all in and wring every last drop out of the experience,” Chapter 50, Page 238. I love this quote because it’s so true on how you should always stay in the moment and not worry about the past or what’s coming next, you need to focus on now so you can enjoy the moment. I agree with this quote because it is a great piece of advice to take with you where you can’t always be worrying and sometimes you just have to have fun times that really count.

This month, I read Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han. This is the third and final novel of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy. In this story, Lara Jean is experiencing her senior year of high school with her boyfriend, Peter Kavinsky. Her dad is getting remarried this summer to her neighbor across the street, Trina Rothschild and her older sister, Margot is coming home from college this summer too. Lara Jean is writing her college applications and is trying to decide what college she will go to. She then finds out she hasn’t got into her dream school. What will Lara Jean do now? How will Lara Jean handle the highs and lows of her senior year?

I recommend reading this book because I loved how Jenny Han made me feel like the characters were real. I felt like I could feel all the emotions Lara Jean felt and I could picture all of the characters while I read. Every scene I seemed to see in my mind. It was so descriptive and such a sweet story with romance, drama, and family. If you like lighthearted reads you should definitely read this book!

My favorite character was Lara Jean Song Covey. She is such a great role model who learns to take risks and is thoughtful and kind. From the text, “Never say no when you really want to say yes.” This describes Lara Jean because she learns to become a risk-taker. She gives this advice because you should do what your heart wants to do because that’s who you are. Lara Jean does this through her life when she’s unsure she still will decide to do what she wants even if others will think differently about her.

My favorite quote from Always and Forever, Lara Jean is, “I guess that’s part of growing up, too–saying goodbye to the things you used to love.” I love this quote because it’s so true on where you sometimes have to say goodbye even though it’s hard sometimes. If something doesn’t feel right or you don’t feel the way you used to about it maybe it’s time to stop. This relates to me also because it’s really hard for me to let go sometimes too.