Today, he’s a high school dropout with no future. Tomorrow, he’s a soldier in World War II. Kale Jackson has spent years trying to control his time-traveling ability but hasn’t had much luck. One day he lives in 1945, fighting in the war as a sharpshooter and helplessly watching soldiers–friends–die. Then the next day, he’s back in the present, where WWII has bled into his modern life in the … modern life in the form of PTSD, straining his relationship with his father and the few friends he has left. Every day it becomes harder to hide his battle wounds, both physical and mental, from the past.
When the ex-girl-next-door, Harper, moves back to town, thoughts of what could be if only he had a normal life begin to haunt him. Harper reminds him of the person he was before the PTSD, which helps anchor him to the present. With practice, maybe Kale could remain in the present permanently and never step foot on a battlefield again. Maybe he can have the normal life he craves.
But then Harper finds Kale’s name in a historical article–and he’s listed as a casualty of the war. Is Kale’s death inevitable? Does this mean that, one of these days, when Kale travels to the past, he may not come back?
Kale knows now that he must learn to control his time-traveling ability to save himself and his chance at a life with Harper. Otherwise, he’ll be killed in a time where he doesn’t belong by a bullet that was never meant for him.
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This is a beautifully written story about family dynamics. Although there is a time travel element to this story, it’s used as a device to build and describe the character’s relationships as opposed to using it as pure fantasy. In fact, it’s difficult to fit this book into a genre “box” other than it is a young adult novel. There is fantasy (yep, Kale is a time traveler, we learn that from the beginning.) There are deteriorating family relationships (Kale’s parents are divorced, his sister is living with his mother, his brother is going to college and his father doesn’t understand him. Harper, the neighbor, is living with her uncle whose wife recently passed, because her mother moved to Germany. And these two families are intertwined in both obvious and surprising ways.) There is a little romance (how can there not be? It is YA after all but it is, like the time traveling, secondary to the big story.)
If you are a fan of YA, real-world/modern fantasy, or just looking for a short, fulfilling read, I highly recommend this book.
Ever since he was a boy, Kale accidentally steps backward in time every few days. But now, he’s stuck to going back to the same place – a war zone in WWII, watching friends die around him.
Cold Summer is the story of a boy dealing with difficult things, including his parents’ breakup and PTSD from his experiences in the war. It’s hard to describe all the things the book deals with because it is at one time showing what young men endure during war-time at simultaneously showing how he is dealing with his parents’ issues and his friends and siblings deserting him because he keeps vanishing without explanation. Poor Kale has a lot going wrong in his life! The plot hinged on the question: why is he traveling back in time to WWII, and how can he stop it? The answer is a psychological one.
Alongside this plot, is Kale’s sweet romance with his neighbor, Harper. She is one of the very few people who believe him, and that makes all the difference to Kale. Harper is also dealing with problems in her life, and she too learns and grows from them.
Content warnings: violence, PTSD, a little kissing, possible swearing, and underage cigarette smoking.
I enjoyed this book and recommend it as a teen book that can help people understand a little bit about PTSD.
I received a complementary copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for sharing them.
This book wasn’t my favorite. I enjoy historical fiction and all though this book doesn’t revall around it, it does have historical fiction elements and I was very surprised at how the author blended almost like a contemporary setting and historical fiction together to create this book. We get to see one of the main characters travel back in time to WWII but we also see him in present day going through the some what common struggles of a teenager with a secret. That was one of my few favorite things about the book. My only other favorite thing about the book was how our time traveling character was very realistic in the since that he struggled with PSTD (post traumatic stress disorder) witch should happen cause hello teenager going back in time, fighting in a war that’s already happen. Having the possibility of dying and no one in your own time knowing that you’ve been shot by a sniper. Yes, our character should struggle and Gwen Cole gives us this satisfaction. The other characters were good and well developed. They had quirks and were easy to understand and love. Obviously they weren’t my favorite but all the characters fit nice together and creates this wonderful picture. I basically didn’t like anything else about the book. I felt it went by so fast. The relationship between the two main characters I felt had no foundation other then they used to be friends before she moved away. Not really a good foundation for me. And since this book basically just revolves around those two characters romance, as well as time traveling, I felt this was important. I love historical fiction romance and was really bumbed about not liking this one as much as I had hoped I would. Would I pick up more from Gwen Cole? Maybe but not a definite. I was generous and gave this four stars because it was the first time traveling book I had read and I did enjoy those elements.
Overall four stars.