The Summer I Turned Pretty

Belly Conklin is a 15-year-old girl standing on the brink of adulthood. The most pivotal memories in Belly’s life have occurred in the summer, but despite this, Belly knows that this summer will be even more life-changing: “It was the summer I turned pretty. Because for the first time, I felt it. Pretty, I mean. Every summer up to this one, I believed it’d be different. Life would be different. And that summer, it finally was. I was” (21). Throughout the text, Belly learns about The Challenges of Growing Up, The Power of First Love, and The Inevitability of Change.

The fact that Belly has grown up as the youngest and the only girl at times shapes her behavior and undermines her desire to be mature and grown up. Used to being called “Belly Button” by Jeremiah and Steven, at times, Belly reverts to immature behavior because it is how she is used to others treating her. Belly’s frustration at being treated like a child is especially acute when the person treating her as such is Conrad, her long-time crush. At the 4th of July bonfire party, Conrad refuses to let Belly drive home with her new romantic interest, Cam.