Three Summers
By Amra Sabic-El-Rayess with Laura L. Sullivan
Ages 8-12
On Sale April 9, 2024!
An epic middle-grade memoir about sisterhood and coming-of-age in the three years leading up to the Bosnian Genocide.
Three Summers is the story of five young cousins who grow closer than sisters as ethnic tensions escalate over three summers in 1980s Bosnia. They navigate the joys and pitfalls of adolescence on their family’s little island in the middle of the Una River. When finally confronted with the harsh truths of the adult world around them, their bond gives them the resilience to discover and hold fast to their true selves.
Written with incredible warmth and tenderness, Amra Sabic-El-Rayess takes readers on a journey that will break their hearts and put them back together again.
Praise for Three Summers
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
★ “An insightful and solemn yet hopeful memoir that will hook readers…Remarkable.” —School Library Journal, starred review
★ “Sensitively crafted and thought-provoking memoir…This searching, introspective work—a timely tale of resilience—presciently observes that ‘words, ideas, hate can kill people.'” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Amra’s narration begins with a conversational, sometimes even childish tone that gives an inviting authenticity to this slice-of-life memoir, centering her everyday experiences as a preteen and teen even as those around her become increasingly embroiled in global events…Readers learn along with Amra of the complicated geopolitical situation unfolding.” —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“This moving and deeply personal story is framed in a way that makes the larger political, religious, and ethnic complexities accessible. Simultaneously candid and heartbreaking yet warm and engaging.” —Kirkus
“With her deftly rendered memories, Sabic-El-Rayess transports readers into summers of a different era, which will be illuminating for some and resonantly familiar for others. Ideal for fans of Rex Ogle and Katherine Marsh or those not quite ready for Ruta Sepetys’ YA historical fiction.” —Booklist
