Summer Girls by Jennifer Dugan

Summer Girls

Jennifer Dugan

Penguin Young Readers Group · Print & ebook · May 13, 2025

A Romance pick for readers exploring Summer Girls.

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Who it’s for
A sapphic summer romance finds its spark where beach-town class lines—and dating rules—rub raw.
Themes
Class differences, Breaking rules, Opposites attracting
Genres
YA Lesbian, YA Romance - LGBTQ+, Contemporary YA Romance

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For younger readers: Second Chance Summer

For older readers: Like in Love With You, Really Cute People

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About this book

From the author of Some Girls Do comes a summery sapphic romance about two girls from the same vacation town, whose worlds couldn’t be farther apart. Cass has a rule about dating summer girls—just say no. Every year, her idyllic beach town is flooded with the obnoxious daughters of the rich who stay in their families’ summer homes, sail their yachts, and generally make things unbearable for townies like Cass. Birdie is the ultimate summer girl.

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She’s the daughter of a wealthy real estate developer dad and a social media influencer mom, and this summer Birdie happens to be in big trouble for accidentally crashing her boyfriend’s very expensive car. Birdie’s punishment is to spend the summer with her father at the beach—but it won’t be a vacation. He’s enlisted the help of Cass, whose dad works for him, to keep Birdie on the straight and narrow, including getting her a job at the public beach where Cass lifeguards. At first the two despise each other. Birdie doesn’t want a babysitter, and Cass doesn’t want to be one. But as the season heats up, Birdie surprises Cass time and again, and before long both girls can’t help but wonder: Are some rules made to be broken?

Summer Friction

A sapphic summer romance finds its spark where beach-town class lines—and dating rules—rub raw.

Come here for

  • Beach-town tension between a local lifeguard and a wealthy summer visitor
  • A prickly start that leaves room for surprise

Expect

  • A teen romance with a summery setting and class friction
  • Two girls reconsidering the rules they brought to summer

Where it sits

YA Lesbian80%
YA Romance - LGBTQ+68%
Contemporary YA Romance62%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Contemporary YA Romance
  • YA Romance - LGBTQ+
  • Dating & Sex for Teens
Authors
Jennifer Dugan
Publisher
Penguin Young Readers Group
Published
May 13, 2025
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Class differences · Breaking rules · Opposites attracting
Reading lane
Contemporary YA Romance