The Summer Of Naked Swim Parties (2008) - Plot & Excerpts
I have read two books this year that portray very complicated and engaging sister relationships, the first being Tell the Wolves I've Home and this being the second. The Summer of Naked Swim Parties takes place in California in the 1970s and the author does a fantastic job bringing this period to life. Fourteen year old Jamie misses the days when she and her older sister Renee were so close people used to think they were twins. But Renee is busy cultivating a good girl, straight-and-narrow, young Conservative persona while Jamie spends the summer partying and experimenting with her friends and new boyfriend, Flip. The family dynamics were funny and offbeat and sometimes totally dysfunctional, yet there is definitely love between everyone. The tone and some of the outrageous scenes and dialogue reminded me of how Wes Anderson presents the family unit in his films. Both Jamie and Renee are off-put (to varying degrees) by their parent's constant pot-smoking, health food, frank conversations about sex, and most of all, by their naked swim parties. I enjoyed the dynamic of extremely liberal parents and more conservative children, which provided great opportunity for engaging conflict. Jamie's relationship with her boyfriend is an unflinching and cringe-worthy look at how crazy teenagers can be when they are "in love." There were many moments where I wanted to give her a hug and slap her selfish clueless boyfriend (not to mention her cruel fair-weather friends) in the face. There is lots of sexual content here and therefore may be a tad old for young teen readers, but the emotion is so spot on I think some teens could benefit from Jamie's experiences. This would make a great indie film! I happened upon this book at a random thrift store in a pile of discarded old books. I could not get enough of this story...the young teenage narrator really describes the angst of growing up with parents that gave her too MUCH freedom and not enough parenting, a stark contrast to what is expected from teenage prose. I loved the individual stories...and yes, the title does reflect the theme of the book :-)
What do You think about The Summer Of Naked Swim Parties (2008)?
Fun read, but nothing too special. The characters just seemed really cliche.
—cute
I liked the story. The author described teen angst and the 70s well.
—gparanjpe51
