Ferguson, Jen. Summer of Bitter and Sweet, The. Heartdrum, 05/2022. 384 [+4]pp. Fiction. GRADES 9 – 12. $17.99. 978-0-06-308616-6. OUTSTANDING.
First-person Métis narrator Lou is eighteen and living with her uncles on their farm. She’s planning to
spend the summer helping out at the family ice cream business with her boyfriend and best friend,
hoping her mom has a good summer traveling and selling her beaded jewelry. But ugly secrets from the past and some violent events in the present turn this idyllic summer into a harrowing rite of passage for Lou as she learns the true identity of her birth father and the deep roots of systemic racism that continue to threaten her family. A well-written trigger warning by the author opens the book, which includes descriptions of rape and violence. The author carefully uses the experience to give the readers a story in which personal strength, love, and redemption break a generations-long pattern of pain. Underlying humor and honesty make Lou an appealing and effective champion in this coming-of-age novel.
Lesley Mandros Bell —Unaffiliated