She then starts a relationship with his brother, Jeremiah, after he kisses her making his feelings known to her. She is known to have had a crush on her friend Conrad since she was young, but her relationship with him falls apart at the end of It's Not Summer Without You after the two become a couple for a short time. She is the daughter of Laurel and the younger sister of Steven.

Isabel 'Belly' Conklin: The narrator, and protagonist of the series.

It shows that even though someone is acting independently, that person will not succeed without the help of those around them. He squanders his independence and ends up needing the help of Belly's mom in order to save the family's home at Cousins Beach. Readers do see the effects that his independent decision-making has on him through the view of Jeremiah and Belly. The impact on those around him, Belly and Jeremiah, is more heavily focused upon rather than Conrad's inner thoughts. Conrad goes to college in this book and thus experiences a new sense of independence. For instance, in It's Not Summer Without You, Belly explicitly disregards her mother's wishes and sneaks out of the house in order to try and convince Conrad to go back to school.

Independence: This is more greatly emphasized throughout the trilogy as Belly gets older and learns to make decisions on her own, disregarding the opinions of authority figures in her life.

The novels illustrate the progression from child to adult through the experiences that both Belly and the Fisher boys encounter as they grow up. However, as the trilogy progresses, she deals with bigger and more life-altering situations, such as breaking up with Conrad, Susannah's death due to cancer, Jeremiah's betrayal, and ultimately, marrying Conrad. In the first book, Belly is more cognizant of what her elders, especially Susannah, want from her.

Coming of Age: The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy shows the transition from childhood to young adulthood.

The book series has been a national best seller its final installment spent more than a month on The New York Times Best Seller list.Ī series based on the first novel in the trilogy premiered on Amazon Prime Video on June 17, 2022.

The novels follow Isabel 'Belly' Conklin in the summers she spends at Cousins Beach with her mother and older brother, along with her mother's lifelong best friend and her sons. The series includes The Summer I Turned Pretty (2009), It's Not Summer Without You (2010), and We'll Always Have Summer (2011). The Summer I Turned Pretty is a trilogy of young adult romance novels written by American author Jenny Han, and published by Simon & Schuster.

The summer i turned pretty book cover