Judging a Book By Its Cover: The Summer After You + Me by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

We so borrowed this idea from Sara at Forever 17 Books, who got the idea from an article on Babble called Judging a Book by Its Cover: A 6-year-old Guesses What Classic Novels Are All About. Basically, it's about getting a child's perspective on the story inside the book based on just the cover art. It can be hilarious, but it can also be enlightening.









This week, the girls are working on the following book:

Title: The Summer After You + Me
Author: Jennifer Salvato Doktorski
Series: stand-alone
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: May 5, 2015
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Sunbathing, surfing, eating funnel cake on the boardwalk—Lucy loves living on the Jersey Shore. For her, it's not just the perfect summer escape, it is home. And as a local girl, she knows not to get attached to the tourists. They breeze in over Memorial Day weekend, crowding the shore and stealing moonlit kisses, only to pack up their beach umbrellas and empty promises on Labor Day. Lucy wants more from love than a fleeting romance, even if that means keeping her distance from her summertime neighbor and crush, Connor.

Then Superstorm Sandy tears apart her barrier island, briefly bringing together a local girl like herself and a vacationer like Connor. Except nothing is the same in the wake of the storm. And day after day, week after week, Lucy is left to pick up the pieces of her broken heart and broken home. Now with Memorial Day approaching and Connor returning, will it be a summer of fresh starts or second chances?

Behold, the girls' attempts at recreating The Summer After You + Me by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski...

Aubrey's masterpiece & guess:

Aubrey says:

"I think it's about a girl who goes to the beach, but she is sad and doesn't want to swim because the birds pooped on her."

Yup, she's my child... through and through. lol  We then had a long discussion about how before she was born, I went to the Jersey shore and got pooped on by a seagull. Since this book actually takes place there, I thought her description was perfect. lol.

I have not read this one yet, but I hope to get to it soon. We haven't been to the shore since Sandy hit, but we plan to head over there this Summer for at least a weekend. Seaside will never be quite the same though. :(


Katie's artwork & thoughts:

Katie says:

"I think it's about a girl going to the beach. There was another person with the girl, and I think they went to the beach in summer."

I love that Katie decided to empty her entire marker box on the paper for her interpretation of that sunset on the beach. =) She was so proud of her ability to write the title in cursive, too. (Why is that still taught in school?!?)

I like that this third novel from Doktorski doesn't sound like your typical summer romance but more a story of loss. Having read How My Summer Went Up in Flames and also having an ARC of the second book on my shelves to read, I had to add this book to my TBR. I can't wait to read it.


Have you read this book or do you plan to? What do you think of the girls' artwork and their thoughts on the story's premise?