Kids think about things. They think about God and religion and wonder and the world. And when things are difficult, they question their faith, regardless of what it is that they have faith in: their parents, their hopes and dreams, their own place in the world and yes, sometimes their religion. The lives of children are one continual effort to make sense of the world. It is a rare and special thing to see this reflected on the pages of a book. These days so many authors sell their readers short, but Scanlon does not. She does not condescend, she does not oversimplify, she does not skirt the tough stuff. She gives kids credit for being thinkers and dreamers, hopers and wishers, complex inquisitive people and I applaud her for it.
With that intro, you might expect something serious, dull and plodding, but The Great Good Summer is none of these things. It’s a story of friendship, determination and a road trip meant to reclaim a bit of hope. Ivy has been raised as an upstanding member of the Baptist Church. Her Mama and Daddy have always been there for her. But this summer, after a rash of wildfires, her mama was just not herself. And one day she just up and took off with a preacher called Hallelujah Dave of the Great Good Bible Church of Panhandle Florida. Ivy and her Daddy have to muddle along without her. But like most kids, Ivy wants more of an explanation than she’s been given. And she wants her mama back. During the summer, she meets Paul, a science club kid at the park where he and his friends fly model planes. Unlike Ivy, Paul doesn’t believe in God. His faith is in science and the stars, the sense that there is something bigger than our small world: the universe.
The Great Good Summer manages to talk about serious issues without being heavy or serious itself. It does not attempt to declare either Ivy or Paul as morally right. Rather it gently shows the ways such different beliefs can still have common ground. This is a very special book and I recommend it wholeheartedly.
Age Recommendation: Grades 4+. Although this book tackles some difficult questions, it’s done in a way that will be accessible even to middle grades readers. The friendship between Ivy and Paul is just that, a friendship and does not progress to anything that would make it better suited to older readers.
Religion – Ivy says that kids pray in her school even though the kids in the science club object. Her mother has headed off to the Great Good Bible Church to find God. There is a lot of religion in this book. Ivy goes to church and she thinks a lot about what she has been taught about God. A sermon seems to be directed at her personally. Ivy reflects on the different types of preachers there are. She talks with someone who doesn’t believe in heaven and hell. There are a lot of talks about whether God or science makes more sense. Ivy can’t reconcile what she’s been taught about God and what has happened with her mother.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – Someone gets a bikini wax. A girl had a crush on a boy. A boy is nice to look at. A woman has left her family for another man. A boy is cute.
Profanity –”dang”, “hell” in a religious/geographic sense, “darn”, “lordamercy”, “crappy”, “dummy”, “Oh God,” “sucks”, “Gosh darn it”,
Death, Violence and Gore – Jesus’s bleeding out of his hands and feet is mentioned.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – A man smokes and asks Ivy for a cigarette.
Frightening or Intense Things – Fires burn down houses and forests. There’s a reference to a girl being possessed in a movie. Mama is sick for awhile. People speak in tongues. Her grandfather disowned her mother for marrying and having a baby while young. A woman hasn’t picked up her medicine, which means her health might be in danger. A man is in jail. There are creepy men in a bus station. Someone is robbed. A person is in the hospital.
