I loved the cover on this book! The bright colors used really pulled me in! I am definitely a huge cover buyer so whenever a cover is able to pull me in this is a huge draw! The story inside was also interesting!

This book was all kinds of fun. I had such a good time reading this one.
I love reading books like this when it's cold here because I can appreciate the summer vibes for what they are.
This one is sure to be a hit with kids of all ages.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I have heard a lot about this book but every time I try to get a hold of a copy it is checked out. We purchased copies and again checked out, so I will read it eventually but I was unable to read my arc before it expired.

This was a really lovely book. I love stories where young girls grow and find their strength. I loved the bond that Micah developed with her male friends, and the girl friends that she made along the way too. A lot of learning and growth takes place in this book, which is always fantastic to read. I would highly recommend reading this awesome book.

Great read for early middle school that allows kids to see that they aren't alone in the changes that they may be going through. Includes fun and serious topics, alike and discusses the awkwardness that is inevitable at that age.

This book was truly the perfect summer read! Even though I read it before summer...

Micah McKinney is one of the strongest female leads I've read in middle-grade recently. I loved her determination and ability to be herself, and her relationships with both the "boys of summer" and her other friends - and yes, even her enemies - were super fun to read about. I was truly rooting for Micah the whole way!

The male characters were totally realistic, too. This book didn't forget the fact that girls are typically more mature than boys at the age of twelve. Even though Micah's boys were sometimes snotty and rude, they change for the better while becoming true friends with Micah (and maybe even more...!)

Everyone can read this book and enjoy the story because it's exciting and has a great message about family and friendship.

Twelve-year-old Micah McKinney and her father recently moved to the other side of town where she must start over with new friends, a quickly developing body, and without her beloved mom. She's just about to start seventh grade and, due to an unfortunate incident with her previous best friends, she will no longer be playing her favorite sport: soccer. In an adorable meet cute, Micah develops a bond with a group of three boys who all seem to vie for her attention. But what happens when her new life and old life collide just when Micah McKinney least expects it?

I especially appreciate the father/child relationship we see between Micah and her father. He's not perfect, nor completely healed from losing his wife, but he deeply cares about his daughter and attempts to interact in meaningful ways (where too many other fictional fathers fail). I also enjoyed the depth of character development with each of the boys in the group of friends. In the beginning there's one boy who is so unnerving and thoughtless, but we get to watch him mature and become one of Micah's greatest allies. Unfortunately, the "mean girls" Micah encounters are just that -- mean. But they're countered by a cast of kind, generous, down-to-earth female friendships that make middle school relationships worth finding and working on. There are also some encounters with older young adults and other parents that highlight the importance of developing adult/child relationships to meet needs that can't always be fulfilled parents (especially if you only have one).

At the end, Chapman shares how this book began as a classroom writing exercise with her students, but eventually bloomed into a full-blown story that allowed her to use her personal experiences of losing her own mother. In this way, it's an important #ownvoices book that brings fresh understanding to such a devastating parental loss. But there's plenty of funny, lighthearted moments mixed into this story, making it a perfect upper-middle grade read.

My thanks to Netgalley and Capstone Editions for providing an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. Unless I'm mistaken, this is Nina Chapman's debut middle grade novel. I'm very happy to recommend it and I'll look forward to following any of her future work.

Micah was very relatable, and she faced a lot of problems that girls have. So it was very nice to see her overcome some the struggles that we girls faced/face all the time. A lot of my students will definitely find comfort in Micah's story - they aren't alone in their thoughts through this time of change. I loved it. Wish I had had it when I was in middle school.

A BIG Thank You to Netgalley and Capstone Books for providing me with an advanced reader’s copy of “Micah McKinney and the Boys of Summer” for my review.

I honestly could not put this book down! It was funny, quirky, ridiculous, charming, sweet and many more! In a nutshell, it is a very cute romantic comedy with a middle grade charm to it. Micah is a great protagonist. She is the awkward, silent, flawed yet talented. I loved her entire personality and how she always wanted to give people the benefit of the doubt. It was also interesting to see how she deals with growing up and puts herself out there through all her ups and downs before she reaches her teens. In addition, her friends, who are the supporting characters are wonderful as well. They also show what true friendship is to Micah. I loved Megan and Luke and Ryan and even Josh. He is hilarious! Of course, even the mean girls like Trish and Marissa were nicely written.

Also, in terms of the romance, I loved how innocent the author wrote the friendship and romance of the characters. As much as I liked Micah and Luke, I also like Ryan a lot. I also liked how the author added a serious topic like depression and suicide to make the characters more real. There are some pretty heavy scenes as they cover this topic, but I thought the author covered it really well with the plot.

I think this is the author’s debut novel and she has done a terrific job! Moreover, this is one of those books that I feel people of ANY age group would enjoy if they like these kind of charming stories. Can we have a part two to this book please? A continuation with what happens between Luke and Micah and Ryan in her teen years? I really want to read more about all of them! Overall, this book is a complete feel good entertainer!

While the set-up here is one we see more typically in teen romances, it actually makes more sense in middle grade. These boys are responding to accessibility. Micah is one of them, a part of the way the y understand the world, while the more "girly" girls care about things they don't understand. I also like Micah's interactions with other girls. She's finding a way t o be a girl but still be herself. Thus Chapman shows us a lot of ways to be a girl, all of them valid. The only behavior that is wholesale condemned is blatant bullying.

This book was pure bliss. It follows the Micah, a middle school girl who has just moved to a new neighborhood. During the summer before middle school Micah meets a whole new group of friends. She must navigate between being a tomboy with a group of neighborhood boys and being a girly girl with the neighborhood girls. Not short of laughs or heart, this book is SURE to put a smile on your face.

Micah just moved to a new town and she's hoping this move will change her life and make it all that she ever wanted it to be, especially when she starts seventh grade in just 81 days. In this coming-of-age story Micah is dealing with a lot, the loss of her mother to suicide, getting her first period without her mother's guidance, a move, and trying to make new friends, just to name a few. I feel like while her dad really loved her, he should have done WAY more to help her deal with her grief. Micah had so many emotions after the sudden suicide of her mother and she was struggling with it all alone. This was a simple story and very realistic filled with the typical tween-age middle school angst- mild cursing, who likes who, bras, make up, and first kisses, mean girls, etc. I didn't love it or hate it, and honestly felt very indifferent towards it and the characters for the most part. I also found it incredibly frustrating that the publisher only released it as a protected PDF so I could only read it on my computer instead of cuddling up with my kindle to read it. I had been expecting to read something more lighthearted based on the cover, I feel like the two were kind of out of sync with regard to this.

I loved this book so much. Micah recently lost her mother and had some kind of a crisis with her old friends. She and her father have moved to the other side of town so that they can start over again. We eventually find out what happened and then you really feel sorry for her.

Micah is also at that awkward stage where she is 12 turning 13, so she wants to grow boobs and is trying to find out who she really is. Anyone who went through puberty is going to understand that.

But underneath her questioning and awkwardness is an amazing young woman who has a lot more confidence than she ever realized she had. She also is not into the typical girly-girl stuff that the new girls in her life seem to be. That and her feisty competitive nature help to win her over to the boys in her new neighborhood. They appreciate her for being real, for sharing in their joking, and for keeping up with them in the athletic world. And yes, there are some crushes going on in both directions.

This book reminded me a little bit of Mean Girls with a lot of Judy Blume undertones written for the modern girl. I thought back to my own awkward years and was reminded of a lot of amazing young women I know today. Micah is a young lady worth looking up to and is easily relatable. And again, I just loved this book. I recommend it for all coming of age girls.

I hope the author continues to write more, because I think she is a great voice in this YA world

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for honoring my request for a review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Micah McKinney has one summer to prepare for her thirteenth birthday and the first day at her new school. It is hard to be twelve and in a new neighborhood with just your dad. Who will take her bra shopping? For that matter, will she ever have boobs and need one? The first new neighbors she meets are some boys who have great fun teasing Micah. Once they realize she can keep up with them, they include her in their circle. That causes difficulties with some of the other girls. Sometimes Micah feels like she is in a tug of war between the two groups. She also has the death of her mother and the reason she left her former soccer team lurking in her past. As the summer advances, it becomes more and more clear that those are some pretty heavy burdens and though her dad clearly loves her he has not been able to directly confront the issues in their family. There is a lot to love about this book, but the cover strikes me as being out of sync with the content. I was expecting more humor and less heartbreak when opening the book.

Thank you to Capstone and NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a great little read this book was. It was a lot deeper and dealt with a lot more topics/choices/changes than what I expected it too. Micah is a complex character and I love that she can pull all the neigbourhood together, like a "haus". For a 12 year old to have to deal with everything that she has would be challenging.
I would highly recommend this to anyone with pre-teens to read through. Cant wait to go and buy it for my niece.
Thank you to Nina Chapman, NetGalley and Capstone publishing for allowing me to read this.

Thank you NetGalley and Capstone for this digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Description
With equal parts humor and heart, Micah McKinney and the Boys of Summer tells the story of twelve-year-old Micah as she embarks on the summer before middle school. More than anything, Micah hopes to undergo a miracle transformation. One that will bring with it new friends, a fresh start, and boobs . . . preferably the round kind. If that happens, then maybe she can finally forget about what happened in the past. About losing her mom, about losing her best friend, and about the disaster she became in sixth grade, when everything fell apart. She and her dad have just moved away from their old neighborhood, and Micah's childhood home, to put some space between themselves and the secret burden they both bear, one that's already changed their lives and has the power to do even more damage. On her first day in her new neighborhood, Micah is greeted by the Water twins, Luke and Megan. Micah is surprised to find herself caught between their two worlds. In one world, there's Luke and his band of neighborhood boys, who challenge Micah in feats of strength, crowning her The Big Kahuna at the local pool, and vying for her attention, even though she doesn't quite understand why. And then there's Megan, whose world is full of lip gloss and padded bras, where Micah dabbles in the fine art of being a girl. As Micah awkwardly navigates her way through crushes, friendship, and budding boobies, she discovers that the real transformation that needs to take place is in how she sees herself.

Budding tale of discovery and friendships. Perfect for a summer read.

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus'



*Spoilers in Strengths and Weaknesses.*



Micah and her father move six miles across town, and Micah is conflicted. Things ended poorly with her friends at her old school, so she's eager to make a fresh start, but she also misses her old home and doesn't make friends easily. Luckily, there are other kids her age in the neighborhood, and she can walk to the nearby pool. She's struggling with knowing who she wants to be as she enters seventh grade, but figures that she has the summer to outline her new plans. Twins Luke and Megan are both friendly, but it's hard to hang out with both of them. Luke and the other boys in the neighborhood are willing to accept Micah as one of them, with her food stained t shirts and awesome sports skills. Megan, on the other hand, is more interested in boys as romantic objects, and she makes Micah feel unkempt and young. It doesn't help that Micah really does want to be more like Megan and her friends, and that she is starting to have some romantic feelings for boys. In addition to all of the typical tween angst, Micah has to deal with the death of her mother under very unfortunate circumstances.

Strengths: This has Judy Blume levels of pubescent worries, and so is great for readers of Barbara Dee's work or those who enjoy "embarrassing moment" articles in... well, tweens don't read magazines anymore, but they still seem to have a well developed sense of schadenfreude. Micah's struggles are all too recognizable; I certainly always made plans to completely redo myself, and they never worked out. The pool, the summer setting, the girl and boy drama, and the positive depiction of a girl who is good at sports are all very appealing. I even appreciated that Micah was dealing with the death of her mother.
Weaknesses: I wish that Micah had a bit more support in dealing with not only her mother's death, but also the aftermath and the effects on her life. She mentions going to counseling at school for a while, but clearly there was a lot more support that she needed, due to the fact that (highlight for spoiler)her mother committed suicide and she was told that it was an accident.
What I really think: I don't think I will purchase this, because the cover and the content are so drastically at odds. It's a pretty heavy duty read, but the cover makes it look very fun.

Thank you publishers and Net galley for an ARC of this book.


A wonderful Middle grade novel about a girl named Micah who finds herself alone in a new neighbourhood before starting school. Will she be able to have a new start or will her past moves itself I to the neighborhood as well?

This was such a fun read. I loved the characters and the story line!!

A middle age story that is funny, thoughtful, speaks a lot about a teenage growing up, deals with first crushes, new friendships, sports, self-discovery, and love. But also it has its dark topics covered as well like bullying, betrayals, suicide and its impact, self doubt, etc.

I feel this book is a great page turner, it was light and easy read and observed various points, topics and themes and the depiction of what a teenage goes through, specially a teenage girl during her puberty, her reactions, her perspectives, her fear and shame and how she has to overcome it all. It was just a lovely story that reminds one of how tough their own teenage years were, how scary and new everything was, and how one tried to fit in so bad in their own different ways.

This book was provided to me by the publisher through net galley in exchange for an honest review.

Oh being 12 is hard. Finding yourself and not letting others dictate who you are is so difficult and Micah had a summer to try and find who she was after some tragic things happened to her. I really enjoyed this book, the characters were well written and coming from a mother of a current 12 year old girl its about dead on with bullies, mean girls, and just trying to be yourself through it all.

I was provided with an electronic ARC through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.