I had a hard time with the sentence structure in this book. I must admit that I wasn't able to finish it because of that. I can see why folks would like the story, but it just wasn't for me.

I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway. ( )

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I like Susan Coll's writing. I thoroughly enjoyed reading her previous novel, Rockville Pike. Full disclosure: I live within walking distance of the real Rockville Pike. However, Beach Week did not do it for me as much as I hoped. It was supposed to be funny, but I only found it mildly amusing. I felt sorry for Jordan, the girl about whom this book was written. Her sadness at losing a potential boyfriend was overlooked by her parents who were so distracted by other things. Full disclosure: I have a daughter named Jordana.

The idea of a book about beach week by a local author seemed like fun. The fictitious city of Verona (or was it a county named Verona?) sounded very much like Bethesda, Maryland. The fictitious beach town of Chelsea Beach sounded akin to Ocean City, Maryland. So what was there not to like?

The story is of a group of parents who allow their children to go for a week to a beach town at the end of their senior year of high school. To do so, the "children", now young men and women, have to agree to a chaperone and to follow a very rigid list of rules. The reader knows what's going to happen. At least those readers who've been teenagers spending time with other teens at the beach in the past know. If you don't know, read the book. If you do know, read the book anyway, compare it to your own experiences, and tell me what you think of this story. ( )