Summer Bird Blue

Author(s): Akemi Dawn Bowman

Young Adult

Rumi Seto spends a lot of time worrying she doesn't have the answers to everything. What to eat, where to go, whom to love. But there is one thing she is absolutely sure of-she wants to spend the rest of her life writing music with her younger sister, Lea.


Then Lea dies in a car accident, and her mother sends her away to live with her aunt in Hawaii while she deals with her own grief. Now thousands of miles from home, Rumi struggles to navigate the loss of her sister, being abandoned by her mother, and the absence of music in her life.


With the help of the _boys next door_-a teenage surfer named Kai, who smiles too much and doesn't take anything seriously, and an eighty-year-old named George Watanabe, who succumbed to his own grief years ago-Rumi attempts to find her way back to her music, to write the song she and Lea never had the chance to finish.


Aching, powerful, and unflinchingly honest, Summer Bird Blue explores big truths about insurmountable grief, unconditional love, and how to forgive even when it feels impossible.


Product Information

This is a crucial book on loss. Raw, real, and deeply hopeful, Summer Bird Blue follows Rumi Seto on her path to healing in idyllic Hawaii with the help of a grumpy old man and a bubbly new friend. This book has solidly secured Akemi as one of my favourite contemporary YA authors - I will read anything Akemi Dawn Bowman writes. The stand-out element for me was the aro-ace representation in Rumi, the likes of which I have never seen before... Much of Rumi's journey in Summer Bird Blue explores her discovering and accepting her aro-ace identity, and she does NOT end up in a relationship by the end. She made me feel strongly seen in a way I don't think I've ever felt before in a book ... I deeply admire and respect Akemi for making this choice, because it would have been SO easy to let Rumi end up in a relationship with Kai. But it makes a far more interesting book because she doesn't! ' - Alice Oseman, author of Heartstopper 'Bowman dives into the sea of grief with her protagonist and celebrates the kinds of love that are eclipsed all too often. With this remarkable book, she has cemented her position as one of the most progressive and insightful authors of her generation.' - Samantha Shannon, author of The Priory of the Orange Tree 'Summer Bird Blue is a quiet but powerful exploration of music and love, and their ability to heal grief over time. Like my favorite sad songs, this book settled deep into my heart and refused to let go.' - Brandy Colbert, author of Little & Lion and Finding Yvonne 'Summer Bird Blue brings us the gift of Rumi, unflinchingly honest in herself, her music and the ways she loves and doesn't. I got (sobbingly) lost in the rhythms of this beautiful exploration of what it means to grieve when you haven't figured out who you are or your place in the world. With a Hawaiian setting so vividly alive that it becomes essential to Rumi's healing, this is a gut-wrenching, must-read novel.' - S.K. Ali, author of Saints and Misfits 'A beautifully complex exploration of grief, guilt, and the healing power of art and friendship. Akemi Dawn Bowman's Summer Bird Blue will make your heart ache and leave your soul hopeful.' - Ashley Herring Blake, author of Suffer Love and Girl Made of Stars

Akemi Dawn Bowman is the author of William C. Morris Award Finalist Starfish, Summer Bird Blue, and Harley in the Sky. Her upcoming sci-fi series, The Infinity Courts, is set to release in 2021, followed by her middle-grade debut, Generation Misfits. A proud Ravenclaw and Star Wars enthusiast, she has a BA in social sciences from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She currently lives in Scotland with her husband and two children.

General Fields

  • : 9781785302275
  • : Bonnier Books Ltd
  • : Bonnier Books Ltd
  • : December 2023
  • : ---length:- '19.8'width:- '12.9'units:- Centimeters
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Akemi Dawn Bowman
  • : 823.92
  • : English
  • : Paperback