Not the kind of book I’d usually go for but wanted to try something different on a whim and I got to say I am glad I did. This one pulled me in from the beginning. I loved it.

Sarah Richardson is spending her summer working on her father's campsite and protecting endangered loons. Her best friend, Gemmi, leaves on a cross-country adventure with her parents to Oregon and back. Before Gemmi leaves, she and Sarah make a Summer Dream Do List, and each intends to make their dreams become a reality. Sarah intends to work on the campsite, rescue loons, and kiss a boy. While Gemmi's list is a bit more adventurous, she still promises to remain as supportive of her best friend as she possibly can-- through text messages. Sarah is exceptionally responsible for a 13-year-old girl-- she volunteers for a raptor rescue center, helps out at home, works to clean up the campsite, and even shares shifts at the store. With her father away Mondays through Fridays, Sarah has become especially attached to her uncle Juju who has become a dependable caretaker and parental figure in her life. Sarah is faced with confronting missing her mother who has left Srah and the rest of her family with little more than her collection of scarves and a journal she wrote while hiking across the Appalachian Trail (from Georgia to Maine!). However, Sarah's determination will prove to carry her far.

Loon Cover Summer begins a bit awkwardly, how after the initial couple chapters, the novel reads fairly smoothly and consistently. Readers will love following along with the main female protagonist, Sarah as she endeavors to rescue loons and befriend the many people who visit the campsite, including a young boy named Theo and his Aunt Maggie. Maggie is a naturalist and a loon expert who was sent by the University of Maine after Sarah emailed them so frequently the faculty became concerned over the conditions the loons were enduring. Perhaps only Reenie, the head of the raptor conservancy center, fully understands Sarah's passion for overseeing the wellbeing of this special and unique birds.

Donna Galanti has written a wonderful novel with delightful lines of dialogue and descriptions of a beautiful landscape of Maine. Her dedication to protecting endangered birds, wildlife, and endangered trees shines brightly through this narrative. The journal entries written by Srah's mother serves as a catalyst into greater emotional depth and understanding of the woman who has left Sarah in such an unresolved emotional state. Each of the characters are well defined and add greater emotional complexity. The characters prove that they are family, friends, and share common goals of protecting their surrounding environment, preserving the loons and other birds, bringing in more people to their campsite, and solidifying friendships.

What a wonderful book about family, courage, healing, and grief as Sarah is still dealing with the loss of her mom six months ago. At the campground that dad owns, Sarah wonder why the loons are disappearing and volunteers at the raptor rehab center. Sarah’s plan for the summer is to try and figure out a plan to save the campground and look for loons. Theo arrives with his aunt, Maggie, who turns out to be a loon expert sent by the university. Theo and Sarah hang out and look for loons, and she tells him she wants to hike Mt. Katahdin alone because her mom did. When Sarah finds out her dad is becoming friends with Maggie, Sarah gets mad. Sarah decides to leave one morning to hike the mountain trail, but something happens while she’s on the trail. What happens now?
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

This is a really sweet book with a strong protagonist that I think younger readers will really connect with. The themes of perseverance, trusting your gut, and taking care of each other will speak to so many kids who are going through challenging things. The characters are very sweet together and the sense of found family brings comfort to a family that has experienced a tremendous and difficult loss. I love the way this book touches on these difficult life experiences without overly dwelling on them.