The Summer I Turned Pretty Character Analysis

For my realistic fiction book talk, I read “The Summer I Turned Pretty” by Jenny Han. I read this book because it was recommended to me by a friend, and by the summary presented in the novel, it seemed very interesting to me. The realistic setting in this story takes place in the contemporary time period, at the beach house at Cousins Beach, Rhode Island. The main character is Isabel (Belly) Conklin, a 16 year old girl who just wants to have a perfect summer with the least drama as possible. The main conflict occurs when many guys come between Belly’s feelings and she doesn’t know which one she will have feelings for because she sees them all as great people. Jeremiah Fisher is the son of Susannah Fisher (Belly’s mom’s best friend). Jeremiah
For example, she was very dramatic when she was jealous. She was jealous when her crush Conrad would always be interested in another girl. “Conrad has come to the boardwalk for her. He’d brought me because he hadn’t want to come alone...that was it. That was the whole reason. That was the whole reason. I could see the way he looked at her, the way he almost seemed to hold his breath” (13). Next, Belly was very determined throughout the novel that this would be the summer that everything would be different and she’d get treated like a grown woman. “It was the summer I’d never, ever forget. It was the summer everything began. It was the summer I’d turn retty. And that summer, it finally was. I was” (21). Also, Belly was very caring throughout the whole novel for all the characters, especially Susannah(her mom’s best friend), who was suffering from breast cancer. She was very supportive throughout the summer, and cared for Susannah if she was her own mother. “If Susannah needed me, then there was something I could do... ‘I could never be mad at you,’ I told her, coming up behind her and putting my arms around her stomach. I tucked my head in the space between her neck and her shoulder. She smelled like flowers” (258 &