This warmly nostalgic pair of books (The Summer Sherman Loved Me and Grace Above All) are not a series but are rather companion novels with shared characters. Realistic and well-done, they capture a moment in time and a moment in girlhood with humor and poignancy. ( )

Cute story, but definitely geared toward a younger age. I might recommend a change in it's current classification at the library. ( )

Harken back to the 1960's when women stayed home, hung their wash on clotheslines in the air to dry, were very concerned about what the neighbors thought and paid to have their couch plastic covered; the father figures were mainly silent save for the disbursement of punishment and the flip of a burger on the grill; the girl children wore pedal pushers; the boy's received their mandatory summer buzz haircut and most kids drank kool aid, peddled their bikes safely throughout the small town and spent lazy boring days waiting for something/anything exciting to happen.

There isn't much of an in depth plot to this book, but it is charming. "Margaret, I Love You" is the first sentence of the story. Sherman is awkward and does a lot of silly little boyish things including professing his love on his porch across to Margaret in her yard. Margaret is confused and has one step in the year twelve and many steps into her thirteenth year when life changes in many ways.

There is nothing dramatic about the story and perhaps that is what makes it special. The tale is as slow as the sound of the bike pedals as the children troll around the town on a hot summer day when life seemed simple and one statement held a tremendous amount of power. ( )

What a wonderful book! By turns humorous, thoughtful, fast-paced, reflective, The Summer Sherman Loved Me is filled with life growing up in the 1960s, when a young boy could sneak up to a sleeping porch at midnight and whisper that he loves the main character and they could set off on a midnight adventure in their pajamas, all the while the young girl wonders what he means by love and whether she knows what love is. The cast of characters are heartwarming. This is an excellent family read-aloud in spite of the title making it sound like a romance novel. It's about life, fun, and growing up. ( )