The Summer I Learned to Fly
Written by Dana Reinhardt
Narrated by Shannon McManus
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
Drew's a bit of a loner. She has a pet rat, her dead dad's Book of Lists, an encyclopedic knowledge of cheese from working at her mom's cheese shop, and a crush on Nick, the surf bum who works behind the counter. It's the summer before eighth grade and Drew's days seem like business as usual, until one night after closing time, when she meets a strange boy in the alley named Emmett Crane. Who he is, why he's there, where the cut on his cheek came from, and his bottomless knowledge of rats are all mysteries Drew will untangle as they are drawn closer together, and Drew enters into the first true friendship, and adventure, of her life.
Dana Reinhardt
Dana Reinhardt lives in San Francisco with her husband and their two daughters. She is the award-winning author of the young adult novels A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life, Harmless, How to Build a House, The Things a Brother Knows, and The Summer I Learned to Fly and the middle-grade novel Odessa Again. Her books have been named to many best of the year lists, and reviewers have praised her work as “exceptional,” and “funny and unforgettable.” Visit her at danareinhardt.net.
Related to The Summer I Learned to Fly
Related audiobooks
A Daughter's Truth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Some Like It Scandalous: The Gilded Age Girls Club Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Northanger Abbey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Longings of Wayward Girls Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Forbidden Garden: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Faraway World: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder in the Meadow: Rosemary Grey Cozy Mysteries, Book One Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Golden Hour Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Imperfect Commentaries Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5West of Rehoboth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Miseducation of Henry Cane Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Peter Pan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSuper Secret Super Spies: Guardians of the Future Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mystery of Hollow Places Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bad Dreams and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Starling House: A Reese's Book Club Pick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, Book 1) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Skeleton Key Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The End of the Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blood Will Tell: A Point Last Seen Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Farewell Blues Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dragonwyck Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Short Stories: Sinister Tales for Teens Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ambassador of Nowhere Texas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAround the World with Auntie Mame Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sixteen Scandals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Even Now Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chicken Girls: Rhyme and the Runaway Twins Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSomebody to Love: A Cupid, Texas Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
YA Social Themes For You
Powerless Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We'll Always Have Summer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Summer I Turned Pretty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hate U Give Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Warrior Girl Unearthed Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Monday's Not Coming Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The First to Die at the End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Uglies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If He Had Been with Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Every Last Word Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Butterfly Assassin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Firekeeper's Daughter Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5They Both Die at the End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Akata Witch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Allegedly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Downstairs Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Long Way Down Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, Book 1) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Weight of Blood Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It's Not Summer Without You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Better Than the Movies Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Thousand Heartbeats Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Poet X Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Life With The Walter Boys Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fever 1793 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Go Ask Alice Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Summer of Broken Rules Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Crank Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It's Kind of a Funny Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Summer I Learned to Fly
63 ratings10 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Drew decides after finding her father's journal that is time for her to take a risk and try to find out about who she is.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5In this teen novel, thirteen-year-old Drew is looking forward to a summer of working in her mother's new cheese shop, spending time with nineteen-year old Nick. But then Nick gets a girlfriend, and her mother doesn't seem to have time for her. Drew spends more time with Emmett Crane, a mysterious boy who also loves both cheese and her pet rat, Hum. She begins to pull away from her mother, as she is drawn into Emmett's story. Emmett becomes Drew's first true friend and she must decide what she is willing to risk for that friendship. This is a story about beginning to grow up, having something to believe in, and friendship.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A thoughtful, unusual read. Drew is a loner looking for a close friend, but doesn't take many risks. Emmett is looking for a miracle and has taken a big risk. When they find each other, things start to change. Drew starts to defy her mother, looking for spontaneity and freedom. I loved Drew's relationship with surfer Nick, and Nick's strength after a bad accident. This is a good young teen read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The story of a young girl (Birdie, Robin, Drew) and the runaway she meets and helps. Her mom owns a cheese shop, she has a pet rat, her dad passed away and she reads his book of lists that he made. The runaway, Emmet Crane is looking for a miracle in the form a a native american legend so that he can get the miracle that will save his family.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My favorite Dana Reinhardt book is still A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life. However, all her books are good reading. In The Summer I Learned to Fly, thirteen-year-old Drew (formerly named Robin) is helping her mother in their cheese shop in Central California. Each night she puts left over cheese and rolls outside the back of the store and each morning it is gone. One afternoon she meets the person consuming the morsels--Emmet Crane. And Emmet Crane changes her life.The Summer I Learned to Fly is Drew's coming of age. She learns about her father who died when she was three from his book of lists. She learns about friendship from Emmet. She learns about love from her mother and from Nick, the guy who makes fresh made pasta in her mother's cheese store. It is a summer where Drew steps out of the boundaries of the good little girl and spreads her wings.Reinhardt's writing and story are always enticing. The characters are fun, including Hum, the rat, given to Drew by Swoozie, a relocated Wisconsinite who plopped herself and her Porsche down in central California. I read the book in October but it's a great summer read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Drew's father died young. Now 13, she barely remembers him. On school vacation, she is helping her mother in the gourmet cheese shop she recently opened, and meets a boy in the alley behind the shop. They become friends, and she agrees to help him complete a quest that he believes will help his family resolve its issues.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Drew never knew her father, but she knows a lot ABOUT him, because he left a notebook of lists of things he likes, things he regrets, etc etc. Drew’s mother runs a cheese shop and the business takes up a lot of her time. Drew works at the shop for free and has never minded the work because she doesn’t have much else going for her. Until she meets a boy out behind the dumpsters, and he pulls her into his mysterious world. Very well-written, definitely sucks you in to Drew’s world. I wish there was more to the story, but it’s a great slice of life with a lot of adventure.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Teen/middle-grade fiction; coming of age making friends with homeless runaway dealing with dead dad you never knew mom possibly dating someone new (not really that much of a worry, only wish she wouldn't lie about it) mom's business possibly failing (except that it doesn't). This story had likeable characters and a couple of great lines (note left by Emmett after long, unexplained absence: "I want to be your friend, but I'm afraid I don't know how.") but other than that not all that memorable.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I really thought this one had a shot at the Newbery.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Drew's father died young. Now 13, she barely remembers him. On school vacation, she is helping her mother in the gourmet cheese shop she recently opened, and meets a boy in the alley behind the shop. They become friends, and she agrees to help him complete a quest that he believes will help his family resolve its issues.