Summerlost by Ally Condie

Summerlost by Ally Condie (c)2016

Summerlost by Ally Condie is the winner for Best Middle Grade, and best Youth Novel in the 2016 Whitney Awards. I was lucky enough to read it in order to vote in the categories, and I really enjoyed it. It takes place in Cedar City, during the Shakespeare Festival, but those names are never given. If you've ever lived in Cedar City (as I have) and gone to the Festival (as I have) you would know.

The main character, Cedar, and her mom and brother have just moved here, and have recently suffered the lost of their dad and special needs brother. Cedar makes a new friend, and has all sorts of adventures thoughout the story, learning as she goes, making mistakes, fixing them, and strengthening relationships.

This is a great novel for young people, and for adults, too, teaching us how to build what we have, holding onto memories while gently letting go of what we can't keep.