very interesting and unique story idea. The story line for some reason did not connect with me at this time. I will re read this book in the future. Maybe because the characters were so young? or the fact i never went to summer camp so i have no idea how those run? But i really did like the book!

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Casey is a trans boy who is going to camp for the first time with his best friend, Ella. No one at camp knows he's trans, and he wants to keep it that way, even as he crushes on a cute boy in his cabin, Gavin. Things grow complicated as he becomes the target of one of the camp bullies and is outed.

I almost feel bad giving this two stars because it has a lot of important qualities. The problem with this book, though, comes from the fact that it was too straightforward. I don't need purple prose--no one needs purple prose--but this book didn't have a single metaphor, a single beautiful image; it was completely straightforward, what you were reading was what you got.

This could be helpful for those in a similar position to Casey or those who know little about LGBT people and communities, as it leaves no room for interpretation, but it's not the kind of book for those looking for a story. 

Another issue I had was the characterization of some of the minor characters. They don't talk like teenagers, instead having moments of deep insight and other moments of such lack of maturity that it never quite meshed, creating a backdrop of characters that only seemed to drive the point of the story home instead of creating a well-developed world. 

Nonetheless, books like this need to exist, need to keep being written. Being LGBT--especially trans--is difficult, especially in such a volatile time as today, and I believe that every bit of positive, affirming representation is essential.

A great read for teens and adults alike. In this novel we meet a number of teens in a summer camp setting. What unfolds is a story of identity, acceptance, bullying, bravery and so much more. I found myself becoming completely absorbed and eagerly so. It gave me a better grasp of how to support the people in my life who are experiencing their own transformation. I found myself feeling, not exactly hostile, but a sense of disappointment I guess regarding choices made by certain parents. All in all though it's a positive read that will make you think. It will also make you want to know more, and encourage people to be more accepting and open to differences. It's a novel that will push some readers beyond their comfort zone but in my experience that has only ever led to my growing as a human being. Warning: Have tissues nearby.

Here we have a young adult story about our main character named Casey, a transgender young teen planning a trip to a camp for two whole weeks with his best friend Ella. Casey came out to his parents and has dreams of getting older so that he can get surgery. Casey is our main character at age fourteen and has, for the most part, had a good community in his life in Virginia where he goes to a school that seems to be more accepting of queer people. 

Casey tells himself he won't think about romance when he goes on this trip and fears the day on this trip that maybe things will go awry. What if there aren't any queer kids? What if he gets bullied or attacked, or outed? These are things that he know he has to struggle with in his life. But Casey is a strong, independent man, and he isn't going to let others dictate his life for him. 

At first I knew there would be some cheesy romance, I mean- Look at the cover and title! But what I didn't expect was to be educated well beyong my expectations, and to fall in love with so many characters in such a short time. These nine chapters killed me! Took my children, and left me for dead.

This was beautifully written and the plot had layers and layers of impact on me. Whenever I thought romance would be an issue, I was pushed back into the view of our main character working through his struggles and to figure out what person he is and what person he doesn't want to be.

I loved that our character had flaws and that he acknowledged these flaws as well as the fact that he tried to work on them, that he used proper skills to work through problems like a decent human being, and I'd like to think that it is because I truly does have great parents. 

We had a best friend named Ella who was the best king of sidekick, that kick-ass woman who was independent, and not just because she was aro ace! ( Stunning. The representation is ON-POINT. Killer ). I loved the themes of LGBTQ+ in this book and I think that this is an important book to many kids, teens and adults out there looking for closure and a little something to help them.

The one thing I do want to address is the bullying, which I believe wasn't handled as well as I would like. It was a typical teen book where the bully was reprimanded for physical violence, rather than the tolls of physical, emotional AND psychological abuse placed on teens at the time. I think that there was a far more adult way for the ADULTS to handle that kind of situation, instead of being stand-by characters. The sense that even in writing that adults are passive is a let-down, but I suppose it is a cliche and would probably take the story in a direction most wouldn't take the time to appreciate, but I digress. 

Regardless, I loved this book. And I usually have low expectations going into stories like this. But it was well done and I loved every second of it. I loved every second of Alex, Ella, Gavin, of Casey and the counselors and GOOD GOSH did I want to know more about Lars! I was totally hoping there would be some kind of sub-plot about him! Totally disappointed but that's okay!

This book deserves every star up to 5 and I have no doubts about loving this book. Please pick it up, buy it when it releases, and share it with everyone you know. This is a story everyone needs to read. 

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to make this review.

I was really excited when I learned that the best friend in this book was aromantic and asexual, but there were unfortunately a lot of remarks that were distancing and offensive for aromantic and asexual readers. Aside from that, it was a decent book. The romance moved crazy fast for my liking though I understand that they're 14 and that sort of thing happens when you're 14 for some people. I can't speak for the trans rep, but the aro ace rep was definitely lacking.

I really wanted to love this book. 

I feel like a lot of the LGBTQIA YA lit out there is for older teens rather than the middle school/upper middle school age range, and I was excited that it seemed like there was a book I could recommend for my school's library (I'm a middle school teacher). 

Despite the situation itself being pretty socially and emotionally complicated, the plot is pretty straightforward. Casey is a 14-year-old boy who is transgender. Although he was assigned female at birth, he realized that he was meant to be a boy. Although his father still struggles with acknowledging Casey as his son, Casey's mother is supportive, and his best friend has been by his side no matter what. 

In true best friend fashion, Casey and Ella are going on an adventure together as a way to spend this summer before starting high school: CAMP. While Ella's no stranger to the camp, it's Casey's first time going to a camp that will be filled with cis-gender kids; before now, he'd only gone to "trans camp". While he's excited to go somewhere that he can just be Casey and try to pass for a "regular" boy, he's also pretty nervous that others might find out the secret of his transition, or even the fact that he likes both boys AND girls. He's got a lot on his plate for not even being in high school yet! 

On a Summer Night is supposed to be told from Casey's point of view, but this is where I got lost. On paper, the characters are very distinct from one another- Casey, a transgender boy who wants to just be "normal"; Ella, his outgoing best friend who happens to be asexual; Ryan, the stereotypical small-minded bully; Gavin, the seemingly sweet bunk-mate who might just be Casey's summer romance. 

With the variety of characters- an asexual girl, a transgender boy, a closeted gay boy, and the conservative bully, I think there's room for many readers to find something of themselves or someone they know in the novel. Vindrine has certainly tried to develop a diverse cast of characters. 

For me, when it really came down to it, the characters' voices were not distinct. There was just something disjointed about their conversations, about the way they talked to one another. Their dialogue just did not fit with their 14-year-old personas; for me, as someone who works with middle school students on a daily basis, it just didn't read as genuine. 

If Vidrine had made their characters a bit older, I think they would have been able to better adapt the characters' conversations to the point where they'd feel more natural. At times, their dialogue felt more like someone was trying to explicitly teach me something rather than the kids having a natural conversation. This made it pretty tough to really fall into the story and get attached to Casey and the rest. The personality that I wanted just wasn't there. 

That being said, I'm not convinced that a younger reader would have this same issue. If one of my students were to pick up the book, he/she could very well read it from cover to cover without noticing this, so I don't think it's something that makes or breaks the novel. 

At heart, Casey is just a teen who wants to be loved and accepted. He wants to be seen as Casey first, without the labels that most kids tack on after they find out about his transition or sexual orientation. In that respect, I think that Casey has a lot to offer as an empathetic character for young readers. Sharing that common desire, that common dream, can help them get past the differences that might otherwise stand between them. 

As far as my own tastes go, I've definitely read other YAlit with LGBTQIA that I've liked a lot more than On a Summer Night, but I'm glad to have at least seen the middle grades opening up more to include characters of more diverse gender and sexual identity.

This was a cute summer fluffy contemporary that represented diversity beautifully, I couldn't rate it any higher than three stars because I wasn't 100% connected with the story.

I'm not quite sure how I feel about this book. On one hand I did like the characters, even though I sometimes forgot they were so young because they somehow seemed older to me, but on the other hand it felt sort of rushed and disjointed as well despite enjoying the characters people. I'm not sure that makes much sense, but I promise it does in my head and I will now try to explain it!

I found the character of Casey to be fascinating, as not only is he transgender and transitioning at the young age of fourteen, but that he is also a female-to-male transition which I had never read before in YA lit. That's probably on me, I've only read a few books that feature transgender leads, but the few that I have read have all featured male-to-female transitions. So it was very interesting to read about it from another point of view, and to see Casey struggling with things from a different point of view. I felt for him a lot when it came to his desire to live with the other boys and to seamlessly fit in, while fighting with binders and dysphoria issues when it came to his body. I just felt for him a lot, especially when things started to go a bit south.

I appreciated the character of Ella as well, and the way she was struggling in her own ways in the background. Ryan was a very well written bully type too, using his "religion" as an excuse to be cruel to others, and to try and get out of trouble when his bullying went to far. I could see someone like that very easily in real life pushing a girl like Ella, who is asexual, into trying to date him and when she declines quickly labeling her as a freak. I can also see someone being cruel enough to want to trick Casey into dating a friend of his only to use that as a way to continue the cruelty. So even the bully character was well written.

The one flaw for me here was Gavin, who I didn't like much at all. I know that in the end he redeemed himself to Casey, but I didn't care for the way it all shook out. He put himself out there in front of the camp by being very public with Casey in a flirty, sexual sort of way, and then we find out that it started as a joke that Ryan was orchestrating. So maybe in the end Gavin wasn't going to help with the end result (which was beating up Casey), but I still didn't like it or that Casey ended up with him anyway. I also was a little put off by the ending, which felt rushed and to in a hurry to resolve everything very happily. That, for me, was the one big issue with this book. The time frame took place over just a couple of weeks, and at times it felt much longer and then by the end it all felt like it was to rushed. 

All in all, this book is worth reading. It tells a good story from a not often seen perspective, and Gabriel Vidrine has a ton of potential!

I was drawn into this book from page one because of its unique story line. This is my first time reading a book about a trans boy. Kudos to the writer for writing a book that's so close and personal to him. The central character of the book is a trans named Casey, a very cute and loveable fourteen year old trying to fit in when he's clearly meant to stand out. Ella, Casey's best friend is an aro/ ace (another thought provoking and important subject for teens who are struggling with this) Ella and Casey enroll in a summer camp and it is going to be a nightmare for Casey since nobody in the camp knows he's trans. Casey falls hard for a boy and things go crazy from there. 

The book is written from Casey's POV which is easy to comprehend. The writing is direct and simple. The image of how kids could get really mean is very well written. The narrator has beautifully portrayed the feelings of a trans boy struggling to be understood, struggling to find love and happiness. A quick read. 3.5 stars.
Thanks to Netgalley and the author for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

On A Summer Night by Gabriel D. Vidrine is a coming of age romance story set at a summer camp. The book deals with trans issues, with the main character, Casey, being a trans boy. It is his first year at a camp that isn’t aimed at trans people, and he is hoping to pass as a boy during his time at camp.

Overall, this book is a very sweet romance story that follows the usual formula of misunderstandings and missed connections. Vidrine is trans himself, and this gives the book its strengths. I am also trans, and I never felt that Vidrine wrote in a belittling tone, or wrote clichés when it came to Casey’s identity. For someone who wasn’t part of the trans community, I think that they would easily understand Casey’s story and understand him as a character.

One of my main problems with the story was the character of Ella, who is Casey’s best friend. She identifies as asexual, which I found upsetting as she’s only fourteen. This may be petty, but I don’t think you can decide at fourteen that you will never have sex or have a relationship. At fourteen, you shouldn’t be thinking about whether you want to be having sex with someone, and for me, that slightly ruined the story. As well as that, she comes across as quite creepy, shipping Casey and another boy together and getting angry when Casey doesn’t want to date them.

In conclusion, this is book that I would aim at middle school age, and not young adult. It was very simple, and as a 19 year old, I would laugh at the idea of being ‘in love’ with someone at 14. However, it was an interesting take on the romance at summer camp idea, and I did enjoy reading it. 

Thank you NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for a review.