I am sure I am not the right audience for this book about boy-crazy 8th graders who are spending a month together at a summer house. They have all been friends in the past, but things happened, and they are not going to the same schools, or living near each other, so they all miss each other.

The story is told by the three girls, but it is confusing because they all seem to have the same voice, and I have to check each time I start a new chapter. They talk a lot about missing each other, and about the boys they are dating, and about they love this lake home.

One of the problems is that I was never boy-crazy, so don't get that part. I'm sure if I were the right age, I would care about first kisses and stuff like that.

The other problem might be that this is the second book in the series about the paper fortune tellers that were so popular at that age, and how you could talk about what they meant. They are important to the story because they do give advice, and they keep popping up in places where they shouldn't.

So, this is probably a good book for young girls who are just starting to notice boys, and come into their own.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this story available for an honest review. This book is coming out the 6th of May 2025.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of THE SUMMER OF FORTUNE TELLERS by Lisa Greenwald in exchange for my honest review***

3.5 STARS

Three best friends spend the summer before eighth grade at a lake house as mother’s helpers for eight-year-old triplets. The girls tackle anxieties, their first boyfriend, changes in their families and other growing pains.

I loved the girls’ interactions with the triplets.

Lisa Greenwald tells THE SUMMER OF FORTUNE TELLERS from the points of view of friends Nora, Bea and Millie. Because all three voices were nearly identical, I often forgot whose third person POV I was reading and which girl was with which boy, though the boys had more distinct personalities than the girls.

Middle grade girls will love THE SUMMER OF FORTUNE TELLERS, though the lack of diversity in the book may turn away some potential readers.

This had that children's fiction element that I was looking for and enjoyed the overall realism of the story. The plot of the book was engaging and had that overall feel that I wa wanting in this type of book. Lisa Greenwald wrote this perfectly and enjoyed how good the characters were in this book. I'm excited to read more from Lisa Greenwald.