Fireworks by Niki Burnham, Erin Haft, Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle

In this novel are 4 short stories by well-known authors about flying sparks during summer vacations. 


Miss Independent by Lauren Myracle: It's Megan's 18th birthday on July 4th. Instead of her usual ritual to go to the park with her family and watch the fireworks, Megan's cousin Porter Ann has hijacked her night, taking her to the new hip club in town. And also on Porter Ann's agenda? Getting Megan to get out of her shell and tell Pete that she likes him. Will Megan finally follow her feelings instead of her brain?

A Nice Fling is Hard to Find by Sarah Mlynowski: Lindsey is going to France for 11 days with her best friend Becca and Becca's twin brother, Tommy. They are in a group of about 15 and have a tour guide to take them to the best places in France. During this trip, Lindsey wants to have a fling with a foreign guy. She's never done anything daring so this will be a once in a lifetime opportunity. But then Lindsey finds out that Tommy likes her! Will this change things for Lindsey's fling?

Cabin Fever by Erin Haft: Molly can't wait to go to camp. She has to get away from her young sister, and drama queen, Dakota and camp is her salvation. Unfortunately, Dakota has decided to come with, ruining Molly's summer by snatching her best friend Jess, catching the eye of her 6 year summer crush, River, and overall, taking over Molly's favorite place.

Night Swimming by Niki Burnham: The one time of year that Wynn hates is the summer time. She has very pale skin and doesn’t like to go outside in the sun and heat – she’d rather be indoors. Unfortunately, her friends all want to be outside and want Wynn to be there as well. This summer, though, she’s thought of a great plan: go to summer school in Delaware. It has “prepare for college” classes and it keeps Wynn out of the sun. What Wynn didn’t realize was that it was on the beach! Maybe her viewpoint will change with a cute guy named Caleb though?

My Thoughts/Reflections

These were cute stories about summer romances. I didn’t really enjoy the first two stories as I couldn’t get used to the main girl character. They seemed too whinny for my taste.

The last two stories were really good, though, by Erin Haft and Niki Burnham.

I liked Cabin Fever because it was outdoorsy and Molly was a great character. She was very mature and grown-up, even though she had a spoiled, overly dramatic little sister who liked to ruin her life.

And I liked Night Swimming by Niki Burnham. She was the one author of these 4 that I had read before this anthology. Wynn is a character that I could relate as I don't really go outside too much and prefer indoors. 

Fireworks was a fast pace book and I would recommend it to any teen girls who was a short and sweet summer romance story. 

Sticky Fingers by Niki Burnham

What does one do when, as a senior student, gets accepted into Harvard University through Early Admission? That means throughout the whole second semester of senior year, a high school student doesn't have to apply to anymore colleges.

Jenna Kassarian is that student. She has been working her tail off trying to get the best grades with the best after school activities to get into Harvard for college.

Right before Christmas, Jenna got the acceptance letter, so, really, what was Jenna to do with all of her free time not spending on applications?

Maybe have fun? Jenna's never had fun - she always spent an extra 10 minutes studying for an exam than talking gossip with her best friend, Courtney.

Jenna also has an amazing boyfriend, Scott, who they've been going out with for over a year and he wants to take their relationship to the next level. He also wants to get into Harvard, so they will hopefully be going to college together, and they are in love.

However, Jenna's not sure if she's ready for that commitment during this time of her life.

With the pressure from her boyfriend, and the weird vibe Jenna's been getting from Courtney, Jenna is not sure what has happened from getting her acceptance letter to going to a party - something Jenna is not known to do.

Is Jenna changing for the better or worse? Does Jenna want to change or is she feeling forced?

I really liked Sticky Fingers. I definitely didn't see the ending of this book, which was refreshing for me since many novels are predictable nowadays. If you are looking for a contemporary, real life story, this novel should definitely be on your list - especially if you are a senior high school girl finding yourself at crossroads between teenage years and "college years".

*Side Note* - I have no idea why this book is called Sticky Fingers. It wasn't mentioned at all in the novel (that I saw anyway). Whatever the title of the book is, though, I did enjoy reading Jenna's story and inner struggle about what to do with Scott, Courtney, school, and herself. Her character definitely developed throughout this novel.