Output details

Bringing the Summer

Bringing the Summer is a sequel to Breathing Underwater, and follows the teenage protagonist three years after the death of her brother, now in a city in winter rather than the first novel’s island setting in summer. She is driven by the feeling that her own family is ‘too small’ and craves to be included in the apparent warmth, openness and support of a bigger family. Research questions included the imaginative investigation of the aftermath of a tragic event; to examine the emotional legacy for an individual and a family through fiction which must also engage and entertain its specific and challenging audience of teenagers and young adults. There is also the challenge of addressing darker issues connected to the theme of family through some of the minor characters, including the suicide which sparks off much of the novel’s action. Research was conducted through reading and training in this field and work with young people. The novel is available as an ebook and audiobook and its impact is clear from the fact that it has been widely reviewed on social media by young people.