Three Summers

Starred review from February 5, 2024
Collaborators Sabic-El-Rayess and Sullivan (The Cat I Never Named) tackle universal topics surrounding first crushes and bullying while also keenly depicting simmering ethnic tensions within communist Bosnia that would lead to war and genocide in this sensitively crafted and thought-provoking memoir. Set in the town of Bihać, the 1980s recollection begins when Bosnian Muslim, or Bosniak, 11-year-old Sabic-El-Rayess’s older brother dies. She’s struggling with grief and loneliness when her ebullient cousins Žana and Verdana come to visit for the summer. The girls soon become “the gang, the inseparables, the sisterhood,” and champion one another through the ups and downs of boy troubles and fashion disasters for three summers. Though centered on her loving family and these three seemingly idyllic seasons, Sabic-El-Rayess deftly foreshadows the cruelty she will experience later in life through instances of bullying and domestic abuse, and the growing prejudices against Muslims even within her own family. This searching, introspective work—a timely tale of resilience—presciently observes that “words, ideas, hate can kill people.” A section titled “After” covers the war and includes an author’s note, timelines, and an update on where the individuals described are now. Ages 8–12.