Cruel Summer by Elizabeth Eulberg
The Taylors — Teffy, Tay, TS, and Taylor — have survived their first year of high school and can’t wait for summer to start. But the drama doesn’t go away just because they want it to.
It turns out that Teffy’s been keeping a massive secret from her parents. Tay’s supposed to spend the summer performing with her new band, but it’s not the rockstar life she expected. Taylor’s past comes back to haunt her while working at summer camp. And TS gets to spend the summer in London with Gemma’s very fancy family . . . who doesn’t approve of her.
The Taylors need each other more than ever, but they’re spending the summer apart. Is it going to be so long, London and so long, Taylors?
Some love stories end. Some grow stronger. Eulberg shows what happens after the Taylors’ happily ever after at prom with summer loving. I really enjoyed how she tackles relationship difficulties that crop up after the honeymoon phase. In the previous book, I found Teffy and Liam to be cliche star-crossed lovers, but here she explores the problem of miscommunication, jealousy and how Teffy resents that she is taking more risks with her parent’s anger than Liam is. Very true as literature sometimes make it seem like the women has to make all the sacrifices (like running away from parents) while the man keeps his head down. Then flirting with Hannah ontop of that and making excuses when she insults Teffy, oh no, boy. So I enjoy how Eulberg depicts a couple working through those problems. Same with TayTay as her sweet romance with Reece grows sour. His moody artist vibe that was romantic in the first book reveals its true toxicity and TayTay throws off her love glasses to put herself first and I cheered.
Taylor’s ex, Hunter, makes a reappearance in the camp she’s working at, highlighting how a predator never changes and how he’ll use the boys will be boys/charm to get away with his bad deeds. A timely story but I just felt less invested in it for some reason. Maybe because I was hoping for Taylor to get something happy and not more harrassment and gaslighting. TS’ story about feeling neglected and jealous of her girlfriend was also less interesting to me because it felt like a retrend of Teffy and Liam’s problems. There was some interest in how classism ties with TS’ insecurities and Gemma’s family’s snobbery, but eh. At least the London descriptions were interesting.
I applaud Eulberg for continuing the Taylors’ romantic adventures and showing the difficulties of romance in a realistic light. Now if there’s a third one, can someone please give TayTay and Taylor a good bf!
Fearless by Jen Calonita
When the Taylors learn that this year’s fifth grade school trip over spring break is to Nashville, they can’t believe their luck. The trip will include a trip to the Country Music Hall of Fame, which offers school workshops like Songwriting 101, which is aspiring songwriter Teffy’s dream come true
But a trip this big doesn’t come without a few bumps. Taylor has never been away from her family before and is nervous. Teffy is worried her songwriting dreams will be over before they can begin if no one likes her songs. TS fears making a big mistake by skipping volleyball tryouts to go away with her friends. And how will Tay Tay survive her assigned roommate — mean girl Hannah?
If the Taylors want to make this trip the adventure of a lifetime, they’ll have to find a way to overcome their worries and fears the way they always do — by leaning on each other.
I heartily enjoyed this sophmore book in the Taylors middle grade years. Now that Calonita has gotten past having to introduce everyone, this novel allows for more balanced plots between the four of them. Teffy gets the bulk of it as the sole POV, but her woes about being a songwriter do not come until the third act. Unlike what the summary implies, the trip to Nashville takes place only in the last 30 pages. Most of it is taken up with friendship problems as the girls try to finagle a way for them all to be roommates without one getting left out. Taylor and Teffy have a nice bonding moment in the most outspoken Taylor shows her vulnerabilities and Teffy is able to feel closer to her. Teffy and TayTay both learn how to stand up to mean girl, Hannah, and own their voices in different contexts, and be fearless. Additionally, she has Teffy wreastle with bff perceptions and whether their close friendship is cliquish and how to be more inclusive.
Unfortunately TS’ subplot gets buried. I appreciate the lesson Calonita is trying to teach about priorities and not overextending oneself, but reflecting how TS has less time for everyone, it shows on the less page, less time for her plot. Readers may also be disappointed by so much time being spent on the build-up, and not so much on the Nashville sights. At least I was.
Still a fun story middle-graders will get into.
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